Former health care aide Kim Schreiner knows the difficulties some families experience trying to find long-term care accommodations for their elderly relatives.
That’s why the Red Deer North MLA plans to introduce a private members bill in legislature this month. If passed, it would spark the creation of a free and accessible government website that lists all of the available nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals in the province.
Schreiner wants the website to contain details about the kinds of accommodations that are available, as well as what kinds of programs and services would be provided at each of the long-term care facilities.
“It would be like a one-stop shop,” she explained, noting such particulars as whether a facility has 20 beds or 300.
The NDP MLA came up with the idea before entering politics. Schreiner recalls families contacting her while she worked as a health care aide to ask questions about nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals in the area.
“I’d receive phone calls and emails with the same questions” — some even from people from outside the province.
These callers were sometimes confused because they had come across websites for facilities that had since closed, but still appeared to be open because of old information on the site.
Schreiner envisions the public having access to an up-to-date government operated website that’s easy to navigate and has up-to-date information about long-term care facilities all across the Alberta.
“It’s important to hear from the public what they’d like to see in the bill,” said Schreiner, who plans to gather input from interested area residents from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery.
After fine-tuning the proposal, she hopes to introduce her private members bill this month in legislature.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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