The staff shortage at Extendicare is no surprise. Red Deer has a documented history of this happening when government decides to back away from publicly funded and publicly administered long-term care in favour of private solutions.
It did not have to be this way. Had the government built Michener Village for publicly administered long-term care, it could have been built less elaborately, been functional, and added desperately needed long-term care beds to our area. Staff that worked with our seniors for years could have been transferred to the updated building, giving some continuity to both our seniors and those who care for them.
The government did not make that choice.
There is one aspect of this situation that has not been well documented in the media. It is the way our publicly employed staff who have worked with long-term care residents for years have been impacted by this situation. In the absence of concrete information, they struggled to make decisions about their economic future. They did not want to leave their jobs and give up their seniority halt their pensions and take a decrease in their pay at Extendicare.
Now their options are layoff, displacement or bumping the least senior staff within 100-km radius. There are few jobs available in the Red Deer area within the public system and they may have to commute long distances in order to remain employed by Alberta Health Services.
How would you like your job to be transferred to Three Hills and face that kind of winter drive?
Some will feel they have no choice but to apply to Extendicare and try to live on the reduced income with no pension or recognition of what for some is decades of public service.
At Extendicare, staff in households are expected to do resident care, housekeeping, cook breakfast and serve meals, as well as meet the complex emotional needs of the residents.
In the public system, there was a whole network of staff to meet all these needs. Perhaps this partially explains the large turnover of staff that has occurred since the opening of Extendicare.
Even when Extendicare solves its present problems, there are still only four more long-term care beds than before. There is still a very long waiting list for people in this area.
There is no clear decision how public lands and buildings at Red Deer Nursing Home and Valley Park Manor will be used.
This government has a history of secrecy. During our last election, there was not any indication that our regional health authorities were going to be dismantled in favour of one large Alberta Health Services Board and the significant changes to our health-care system that has made. It is easier to announce something as a completed fact.
Reminds me of the old saying “It is easier to seek forgiveness than get permission.”
That is why we must advocate for our seniors for the continued use of these properties for publicly administered long-term care.
Brenda Corney
Chairperson
Friends of Medicare
Red Deer Chapter