Private rooms, loved ones to be paired together: 42 recommendations in report on Alberta’s continuing care

EDMONTON — The Alberta Government says it will be making some big changes to continuing care in the province after the pandemic highlighted some major failings.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro says for a long time government’s everywhere have been looking at strategies to modernize and transform continuing care.

WATCH: Shandro gives an update on the review of Alberta’s long-term care homes

Back in Feb. 2020, Shandro announced the government would be reviewing legislation on continuing care, then COVID-19 hit Alberta.

“The pandemic took a terrible toll on our continuing care residents and families as well as claiming six of the dedicated staff who care for these residents,” Shandro said. “I promise that we will honour those who we have lost by working to improve the system, and this review is the key to delivering on that promise.”

The 217-page final report released Monday makes 42 recommendations, which Shandro says will look to transform and modernize Alberta’s facility-based continuing care system.

A massive report, with 42 recommendations announced by the province around the transformation and modernization of continuing care in Alberta. A big recommendation is getting rid of ward rooms across the province, around 50 are currently in use, and transitioning to semi-private.

— Kayla Bruch (@KaylaBruch1) May 31, 2021

“The recommendations will improve the quality of life for residents and families, in fact, it puts the quality of life right at the front, right at the centre of these recommendations,” he said.

The next step will be to develop an action plan for implementation. Shandro says they are aiming to have an action plan in place this fall, which will have a range of deadlines for implementation.

However, there are several recommendations which they are moving forward with right away.

“As of July 1, continuing care facilities will no longer admit residents into shared rooms that already have two residents,” he said, adding there are around 50 wardrooms in our province.

“It’s based on one of the key learnings from COVID-19, we’ve all learned about the importance of physical distancing to help to reduce transmissions. Multi-resident rooms are among the biggest risk factors for infection control in continuing care.”

He says the goal is to eliminate multi-resident rooms, and some new facilities have already been built which have private rooms only.

Shandro says the report should also help us prepare for challenges in the future, such as the need for continuing care services in Alberta expected to grow by 62 per cent by the year 2030.

“We need to give Albertans’ choice of settings in which they receive the care and services that they need, to meet the growing demand, this must include increasing home care services,” he said.

Shandro explains the Ministry of Health and Alberta Health Services are exploring expanding access to client-directed home care options. This includes a new pilot for self-directed care coming later this year.

-With files from Kayla Butler