For those seniors who are unable to continue living in their own homes, we must ensure that their dignity and well-being are provided for in quality, affordable and accessible public continuing care facilities.

Seniors must have access in their community to the level of continuing care they require as they age – from seniors lodges for those seniors with good health and mobility, to assisted living facilities, to long-term care facilities for seniors with extremely limited mobility or medical conditions requiring greater attention and assistance.

At all stages of this continuum, it is critical that the care seniors receive is regulated to ensure standards of quality are being met and that medically necessary services are affordable for all seniors.

Unfortunately, the government of Alberta has not committed to expanding the public long-term care system, and has instead encouraged the growth of unregulated, privatized care in the province, particularly through the promotion of private assisted living facilities.

There has been no real increase in the number of long-term care beds in over 15 years, when 7 percent of the seniors population in Alberta were in long-term care facilities. Today, only 4 percent are in long-term care facilities. In other words, the government would need to add 9,800 more spaces to the 14,000 we currently have in the province just to match the level of access of the early 1990s, to say nothing of planning for increased future needs.

With this market approach to long-term care, there is no comprehensive plan to ensure that there will be long-term facilities in communities around Alberta that will allow seniors to stay close to and get the support of their family and friends.

In 2004, there were 1,033 beds in designated assisted living facilities, in which the regional health authority and the owner have a contractual relationship for the coordination and provision of continuing care services. There are also 552 beds in other assisted living facilities and 307 beds in enhanced seniors lodges. In addition to these beds, the Auditor General estimates that there are 10,000 other supportive-living beds in the province which do not have contracts with the health authorities.

In his report, the Auditor General stated that “There are no minimum standards for housing, nursing and personal care services provided in assisted living and other supportive living settings … There is also no commonly accepted definition of what services should be provided in supportive living settings and who is responsible for the cost and delivery of these services. The costs paid by residents of the facilities also vary and while this may be acceptable, residents do not have sufficient information to compare each facility because the services vary significantly.”

The proliferation of private, for-profit seniors care facilities also creates serious problems in terms of monitoring and enforcement by the provincial government.

This focus on the promotion of assisted living facilities has drawn critically-needed resources away from public long-term care facilities. While assisted living facilities were supposedly intended for those seniors with fewer medical problems and care requirements, the shortage of long-term care facilities means that a growing number of seniors with higher care needs find themselves with no other choice than an assisted living facility.

At the same time, the Auditor General’s report raised a number of deeply troubling issues that the government has failed to address within long-term care facilities. In particular, it questioned the 40 percent increase in the cost of long-term care for seniors that was announced in 2003, with no apparent increase in the quality or accessibility of care since then.

The government’s MLA Task Force heard first hand from the public about the crisis that exists in Alberta’s continuing care system and made 45 recommendations to the government. It estimated that an additional $250 million would be required to redress the deficiencies it found.

Sadly, in its response to these pressing needs, the government only committed an additional $36 million on February 23, 2006, with only an additional $42 million in the current 2006 budget. While $37 million of this increased funding will help to provide an extra 30 minutes of care a day to each resident in long-term care facilities (from 3.1 to 3.6 hours), the new standards are well below the recognized minimum standard of 4 hours of care per day.

While the government is proposing new standards for care, they clearly have not shown any commitment to provide the necessary support to achieve these standards. Furthermore, the government has failed to enforce the existing standards and many elderly residents are denied access to medically necessary services such as physiotherapy in their care facilities.

As the number of seniors in the province doubles over the next two decades, and the average age of seniors also increases – and with it, the level of care they require - the problems we see today will become a crisis unless the provincial government reverses its current direction on seniors care.

We want action now:
The provincial government must ensure an adequate number of public seniors care facilities to meet growing needs, and provide all medically necessary services free of charge.

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