UCP looks to private operators for extra care beds
By GILLIAN SLADE on September 2, 2020.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade The government has a plan to increase the number of continuing care spaces across the province without having to wait for the construction of new facilities. Premier Jason Kenney announced Tuesday that additional capacity in existing senior’s facilities that meet all the requirements even post COVID-19 has been identified. Alberta Health Services is seeking proposals from new and existing continuing care operators to add publicly funded spaces without additional capital funding in 31 specific communities. The ones identified in this region are Bow Island, Lethbridge, Raymond, Magrath, Brooks, Bassano and Vulcan. These are considered in need of continuing care spaces based on current and projected demand and the age of the population. Operators in these communities who have existing capacity to operate new continuing care spaces, under contract with AHS, are invited to submit proposals through an expression of interest process. The News requested information on whether the additional beds/spaces are from existing spaces that are currently not government subsidized. There may be private beds in these locations that people cannot afford unless the government subsidizes them. There was no response from Alberta Health before the deadline. Sandra Azocar, executive director of Friends Of Medicare, says the government’s approach is simply the “same old system that has been in crisis for decades.” She calls it “rampant privatization” and a funding structure that creates incentives for both not-for-profit and especially for-profit providers to underpay their staff and have staffing levels that are below what they need to be. “It’s unacceptable for this government to proliferate a continuing care system that prioritizes profits over patients, and that has resulted in the potentially avoidable deaths of hundreds of Albertan seniors,” says Azocar. “Alberta can’t continue to subsidize a broken system.” In a press release, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees warns that we could be looking at a situation in the future where all continuing care in Alberta is delivered by private organizations with the goal of making a profit. At the moment about 400 Albertans are waiting in hospital for a continuing care space to become available in the community. As of March, there were 27,518 continuing care spaces in Alberta. The average wait for a move into a continuing care facility across the whole province, was 54 days in 2019-20. Effective March 31, AHS was operating 103 continuing care facilities in Alberta. There are also 126 privately operated facilities and 124 non-profit facilities offering continuing care services. 14-13
