Province announces funding for health care facilities

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — The provincial government is committing $68.5 million to help support various levels of health care hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Premier Jason Kenney said the money will be split between supportive living facilities, addictions and mental health treatment, home care and hospice care. Operators at these facilities have been faced with increased costs to help keep staff and clients safe, and the funding is aimed at assisting with absorbing some of those costs.

“This includes additional cleaning, personal protective equipment and related supplies, and increased staffing levels. Every part of Alberta will benefit from this funding,” he said.

The vast majority of the money, $48 million, will go to around 500 non-contracted supportive living centres which have been especially impacted with a high amount of deaths among residents during the pandemic.

Two allocations of just under $10 million will each go to addictions and mental-health treatment, and home-care services. The last million dollars will be given to residential community hospice.

WATCH: Premier Jason Kenney gives an update on supports for continuing care operators, addiction and mental health providers, and home care providers

“I am pleased that the Government of Alberta has taken this positive step to recognize the actions taken by operators who have stepped up and taken responsibility for the care of older Albertans throughout the pandemic. This funding recognizes the importance of this ongoing work,” said Kim O’Brien, president and CEO of United Active Living Inc.

Organizations operating between Mar. 15, 2020 and Mar. 31, 2021 will be eligible to access the funding.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro said it has been an increasingly tough year and they hope the funding will be of great assistance.

“There’s a whole new set of routine practices for staff to follow, and they’re doing a great job under extraordinary stress. But we need to recognize that it’s an added burden on them as well as an added burden on their residents,” he said. “We’ve heard from providers that residents are worried about their accommodation not being able to survive financially or needing to raise rates to remain viable as a result of these increased costs to respond to the pandemic.”

Shandro added that mental health has also been significantly impacted in care facilities as the restrictions have limited the amount of visitors and the activities residents can engage in, and there’s hope the money can also be used to improve these areas as well.

Speaking of mental health, Kenney said it is imperitive that mental health and addiction treatment facilities get this funding to ensure they can stay open at a crucial time.

“In addition to huge increases in the number of people whose mental health has been impacted by COVID-19, Alberta is also experiencing high rates of opioid overdose deaths,” he said.

In terms of further support coming, Kenney was asked by a reporter about the status of more than $300 million given by the federal government to assist with wage top-ups. Kenney said this announcement does not affect that, and they will be aiming to find a place for the cash soon.

“There is a request for federal approval of our proposed framework for the wage top-up, where Alberta would contribute fully. We’ve already accessed a good portion of that. I think in the range of $60 million,” Kenney said. “We’ve consulted broadly with the concerned sectors to determine the best way of framing this. We’ve looked closely at what other provinces are doing, and we hope our application will be approved and we’ll be able to announce the details in the fairly near future.”

The opposition NDP was critical of the announcement, however, and said it does not go far enough to provide more solid supports for Albertans.

“Today’s announcement of one-time, reactive funding is a far cry from meeting the need that exists in continuing care. This Premier gets no brownie points after forcing staff and seniors to suffer with little to no support over the last year,” Seniors and Housing Critic Lori Sigurdson said.

The NDP has called on the government to implement a workforce that can ensure adequate staffing levels and safe conditions for everyone in the facilities. The opposition party is also calling for an independent investigation to look into how the government handled the pandemic in relation to continuing and long term care facilities.