There were 27 homicides committed against a resident by another resident in Ontario long-term care homes in the last five years.

Those are the statistics from a new report released by the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) called Situation Critical.

“We’re up to four times the amount of homicide in our long term-care facilities than we have in any of Canada’s largest cities,” says Peter Bergmanis a spokesperson for the coalition.

An increase of violence is the main focus of the report Bergmanis says, “It’s a symptom of the fact there is understaffing. It’s chronic, there’s not enough trained staff to deal with people of acute complex situations”

The report was compiled with provincial data in the areas of wait times, care levels, dementia, funding and violence, not just resident-to-resident, but also violence against health care workers.

“Health care workers in long-term care have the most...lost time due to violence then any sector in our country," says Bergmanis

James Murray, the president of Ontario Nurses Association Local 100, echoes that concern, and is calling on the government to implement improvements and more staffing to long-term care homes.

“I would like increased levels in funding, increased access to beds, reduction in wait time - and when we address the funding issues and access to beds and improved staffing environments we believe that would deal with increased level of violence in the long term care sector."

CTV reached out to the Minister of Health and Long Term Care Christine Elliot about this report and the calls for action and received this statement from her Press Secretary Hayley Chazan.

“The health and safety of all Ontarians is a top priority for our government. Ontarians in long-term care homes deserve to live in a safe and secure environment...We will continue to listen to patients, families and frontline providers as we develop our long-term transformational health strategy."

But the OHC says time is of the essence, “Ontario needs to turn this ship around before we sink."