EDMONTON — Beginning today on the International Day of the Older Persons and continuing all week, Public Interest Alberta and Friends of Medicare are releasing harrowing stories and videos from seniors and Albertans who are experiencing the current crisis in seniors care. They are standing with seniors to send letters to the provincial government calling for minimum staffing hours so that Albertans receive the care they deserve.
“This is a day to appreciate and celebrate Alberta’s seniors, but the truth is, they deserve so much better than they are getting from our provincial government,” said Bradley Lafortune, executive director of Public Interest Alberta. “If they truly wanted to celebrate older persons, our provincial government would be doing more than putting out a statement once a year. They would be supporting and growing the programs that provide much-needed support to seniors. Instead, this government is actively watering down the regulations and services that keep Alberta seniors safe and healthy.”
The stories and videos underline the deepening crisis in seniors’ care. Seniors across Alberta are often left suffering in silence due to the effects of understaffing, cuts to funding, and privatization, while staff in seniors’ care are increasingly overworked and underpaid.
Two reports from the Auditor General last year showed clearly how badly we are failing Alberta seniors living in Long-Term Care. The reports highlighted how decades of underfunding and chronic understaffing in seniors' care have spelled disaster for seniors and for the workers in the system. The Auditor General’s reports confirmed what Public Interest Alberta, Friends of Medicare, and other advocates have long been calling for: we urgently need for a new approach to providing care in this province. Yet instead of improving care, new provincial Continuing Care Act regulations came into effect which removed minimum hours of care for residents of continuing care homes in Alberta.
“Minimum care hours in Alberta were already woefully low, leaving far too many seniors and other Albertans suffering without their care needs being met. The provincial government's new continuing care regulations are only going to make a bad situation worse,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “Rather than weakening regulations even further, our provincial government should be adopting the new national long-term care standards, bringing back an independent Office of the Seniors Advocate, improving working conditions so that facilities aren’t relying on a low paid precarious workforce, implementing things like paid sick days for all workers, and ultimately taking back control of the system by removing profits from the equation for seniors care altogether.”
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