The Alberta NDP tabled a petition from the Friends of Medicare on Thursday with more than 33,000 signatures calling on the province to prioritize more funding for home-care.
Chronic underfunding has meant unmet care needs, out-of-pocket costs, and a reliance on unpaid family caregivers for the 127,000 seniors and disabled Albertans who depend on temporary or permanent home care each year, says Friends of Medicare.
The UCP government has made clear its intention to shift the delivery of continuing care services to include a greater proportion of care in-community, but there has been no meaningful investment in home care, advocates say.
“Friends of Medicare is incredibly concerned that this shift signals the government’s plans to further contract out home care services to private, for-profit providers, which will only exacerbate existing issues in home care,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, in a statement.
“Any promises to expand community care are effectively meaningless without a plan to staff it, compromising working conditions and leaving care needs of seniors and people with disabilities to continue to go unmet.”
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Andrea Smith, press secretary for the Ministry of Health, said the 2024-25 budget invests nearly $860 million for home-care, which is an increase of $27 million from the previous budget.
“In addition, coming into effect April 1, new continuing care regulations increases accessibility of publicly funded home and community care, provides flexibility to providers, and ensures those that need home care can receive it,” Smith said in a statement.
“Alberta’s government is also working to finalize our $134.9 million Aging with Dignity agreement with the federal government, $70 million of which will go towards home care.”
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The NDP say chronic staffing shortages are pervasive throughout health care but the UCP’s latest Alberta-is-calling-recruitment drive left health-care workers out of the program.
“The UCP government’s failure to support public health because Danielle Smith’s goal is privatization continues to jeopardize the wellbeing of all Albertans,” said MLA Lori Sigurdson, critic for Seniors Issues, Continuing Care and Home Care.
“That includes our family members, friends and neighbours who depend on home care to survive and thrive but instead are being denied the resources necessary to participate as members of their communities.”