Seniors

Dr. Paul Parks, Trauma Medical Director and Department of Emergency Medicine Chief at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, was selected to receive the Public Interest Award for Southern Alberta.The award is presented by Public Interest Alberta to individuals or organizations who effectively advocate for preserving and enhancing an element of public services, public institutions, public spaces, or the public interest.

We recently had the below video commissioned to commemorate our 10th anniversary advocating for the public interest in Alberta. Please share it widely to bring greater awareness to what we do and the issues we advocate for. The video was made by Don Bouzek, and the music is by Maria Dunn. [VIDEO]

We have a new handout for our Alberta Could campaign! Check out the media section of our "Alberta Could" website, where you can download the handout and check out other materials from the campaign for fair taxation in Alberta.

Our Executive Director Bill Moore-Kilgannon was at Premier Jim Prentice's media conference at an Edmonton seniors' home yesterday afternoon on fire safety for seniors facilities. The $70 million announced will not cover the estimated $250 million needed for the 2/3 of spaces requiring upgrades. Public seniors facilities have until December 1st to say if they are not up to code, even though the media has already reported that 455 out of 657 are not.

"While he was happy to hear about upgrades to the sprinklers and fire systems in seniors’ facilities, Noel Somerville, the Chair of Public Interest Alberta's Seniors' Task Force, said more can still be done. 'There is a third very crucial safety problem, which is enough staff to evacuate residents who cannot evacuate themselves – particularly at night time.'

'It seems to me that $70 million is kind of a paltry amount when you consider the scale of the problem,' he said."

EDMONTON—“It is disappointing that the Auditor General makes no reference to the increasing need for long-term care spaces, which is causing so many seniors, many occupying acute care beds, while they await placement” says Noel Somerville, Chairperson of Public Interest Alberta’s Seniors Task Force. “The report notes that there are around 14,000 long-term care beds in Alberta, fewer in fact, than the number back in 2005, despite a significant increase in the number of seniors.”

"Edmonton’s Shauna McHarg had wanted to see Covenant Health documents that explain why she had been banned in the past and now has restricted visitation hours to see her parents, both of whom are residents at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre. Bill Moore-Kilgannon of Public Interest Alberta said at least 10 people have come forward with similar complaints. He fears Wakeling’s decision will silence those who want to advocate for loved ones in the health-care system, for fear they will be banned or restricted from visiting their loved ones. 'What Shauna’s case has proven is there is no recourse,' he said. 'All of the current processes have failed her.'"

PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk did not respond directly to our questions on seniors' care, but he did send us a statement on his overall outlook on seniors' care in Alberta.

Noel Somerville, chair of the seniors’ task force at Public Interest Alberta, says there are currently about half a million seniors living in Alberta, about 20,000 of whom need facility-based care — a number that will grow dramatically in the coming decades.“We only have about 14,000 long-term care beds in this province,” Somerville said. “There is a chronic shortage of long-term care beds, and people are being shipped all over the place to access services.”

Public Interest Alberta's Seniors' Task Force recently made the following submission to the Standing Committee on Alberta’s Economic Future regarding Bills 9 and 10 on pension reform: "The Seniors Task force of Public Interest Alberta urges the Alberta government to abandon Bill 9, the Public Sector Pension Plans Amendment Act, 2014, and Bill 10, the Employment Pension (Private sector) Amendment Act, 2014." Read more here.