The province identified more than 8,000 beds in facilities that are over 50 years of age, no longer meet current design requirements for safe and modern care.
According to the Facility-Based Continuing Care Review Report, the need for continuing care services in Alberta will grow by 62 percent by the year 2030.
Findings from the review show Alberta will need to consider adjusting the types and mixture of continuing care services provided in the future to meet this growing demand, including increasing home care services.
The report identified more than 8,000 beds in facilities that are over 50 years of age, no longer meet current design requirements for safe and modern care.
As a result, the Alberta government is committing $400 million in operational funding for new publicly funded continuing care beds. In total, more than 6,000 beds will be added or replaced to expand and upgrade Alberta’s publicly funded continuing care facilities.
The province is honouring its 2019 platform commitment to bring back a new and improved Affordable Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI) program.
Alberta’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro took shots at the previous government, which cancelled ASLI in their first year in office. “[They] clearly didn’t have a plan to add new beds to the system or replace dilapidated facilities with shared rooms that don’t allow for privacy,” he said. “We’re fixing that by bringing back a new and improved version of ASLI that will take care of our seniors and provide the high-quality care they deserve.”
Twenty-four communities were identified through a new and innovative procurement process that requires operators to pay for the capital cost of building new beds. This year, 343 beds will be added in Calgary, Edmonton, High Level, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Valleyview and Westlock. This is in addition to the 2,600 beds added in 26 communities in 2020.
This year, 343 beds will be added in seven communities:
“Adding new beds to the system ensures that Albertans will be able to reside in a facility that provides them [with] the right care at the right time, rather than at a hospital,” said Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS). “This increases our acute care capacity and ensures that the health-care needs of all Albertans are met in an appropriate setting.”
Several seniors and housing stakeholders praised the Alberta government for its investment in continuing care projects, including Arlene Adamson, president of the Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association.
“Our organization represents about 75 percent of the seniors housing sector in Alberta – more than 40,000 seniors across the province in independent, supportive and designated supportive living spaces. This is an innovative and positive approach to add much-needed spaces and I am pleased our members are active in supporting this initiative. Our sector needs government’s support to ensure seniors can age successfully by optimizing the full continuum of housing by bringing the care supports at the right time in the right place.”
Salimah Walji-Shivji, board chair at Alberta Continuing Care Association (ACCA) added that supports for seniors and vulnerable citizens protect the health and safety of these priority communities. “The ACCA looks forward to future announcements and continued collaboration with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services on this and other important initiatives,” she said.
Alberta’s government committed to developing an action plan for implementation based on the report’s findings over the coming months and years. The final report identified 42 recommendations that would transform and modernize Alberta’s facility-based continuing care system.
From the input given by Albertans and residents and the learnings from COVID-19, Alberta Health is taking action to implement several of the recommendations in the report. They include:
“Alberta’s government promised that we would strengthen and modernize continuing care for every resident and family, and this review is a concrete plan to do that,” said Shandro. “It will help us make continuing care better and safer, including applying the lessons learned from the pandemic and the losses suffered by too many families.”
He attributed credit to Richard Gotfried, MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek and chair for the facility-based continuing care review panel, for his “passionate commitment” and the expert panel and thousands of residents and families, staff and operators, and others who provided their feedback to inform this important work.
“We’ll now move forward with an action plan, including new continuing care legislation, to strengthen and modernize our continuing care system,” continued Shandro.
“Reshaping Alberta’s continuing care system is a huge undertaking,” said Gotfried, who believes Alberta is on track to make “meaningful changes” to the model of continuing care service delivery. He thanked the public for their advice and suggestions for improvement, calling them, “integral to the review process and the recommendations put forward in the report.”
The recommendations brought forward stem from a review of literature and best practices both locally and across other jurisdictions, and a deep dive into existing data regarding Alberta’s continuing care system. The province also garnered extensive input from Albertans through more than 7,000 online surveys and 90 interviews and focus groups.
Alberta’s government continues to work with community partners across the continuing care system to develop an action plan for implementation, including exploring future legislative and funding requirements.
“The recommendations in this unusually forward report will be transformative for Alberta's facility-based continuing care system and importantly for the care of older Albertans who need to designate supportive living and long-term care,” said Carole Estabrooks, University of Alberta professor at the faculty of nursing. “Not only will it set a new bar in Canada, [but] it will [also] go a very long way to eliminating the fear that many of us have of one day needing care ourselves."
Patrick Dumelie, CEO at Covenant Health, also applauded the province for its broad and engaging consultative approach. “It is apparent from the Facility-based Continuing Care Review report that the voices of residents, families, and care providers have been heard,” he said. “The policy direction and recommendations identified within the report represent a comprehensive and unprecedented vision for continuing care, which when implemented will be transformative and dramatically improve the quality of life and care for seniors.”
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
