The findings in this and other recent studies exposing the cracks in the system are nothing new to those on the front lines, Hall said.
Since 2017, the Canadian Association for Long Term Care has met with over 60 MPs, various cabinet ministers and dozens of federal policy advisers asking them to address the urgent needs of seniors housing and care, but she says their concerns have not been heard.
With Statistics Canada figures showing the number of seniors over 65 is expected to rise by 25 per cent by 2036 and the number of Canadians over 80 to double between 2011 and 2036, the association hopes governments will finally step in with help and stop arguing about jurisdictional issues.
“Seniors and their families do not care about who is, strictly speaking, responsible for what parts of senior-care delivery,” Hall said.
“The argument that the federal government distributes funds and provinces provide programs might have been a thoughtful argument in the past, in the 80s and 90s, but the demographics today are completely different,” she said.
“The federal government cannot ignore the aging crisis any longer.”
In addition to capital investments, the national body is also pushing for a pan-Canadian health human-resources strategy to address rising challenges with attracting and retaining workers in the seniors sector — another key stressor that has been blamed on the COVID-19 outbreaks.
The federal government has committed some emergency aid to help long-term care homes as part of the $19-billion “Safe Restart Agreement” reached with the provinces last week, including money for testing and personal protective equipment.
Daniel Pollak, a spokesman for Seniors Minister Deb Schulte, said $780 million of this total will support one-time costs over the next six to eight months for measures to control and prevent infections, which “could include addressing issues in long-term care.”
Pollak also pointed to other emergency assistance that has benefited care homes since the pandemic hit, including money for essential worker salary top-ups, ordering and distributing PPE and military troops deployed to over 50 long-term care facilities in Quebec and Ontario.
But Donna Duncan, CEO of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, says the federal and provincial amounts committed and spent to date on nursing homes fall far short of the immediate emergency needs of homes across the country.
This money will also do nothing to address systemic and chronic underfunding of the sector, Duncan said.
“Significant infrastructure investments are going to be required as well as just the immediate response to COVID-19,” she said.
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said deeper reforms of the long-term care system are likely needed, but he remained firm that it would be up to the provinces to lead those discussions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2020.
By Teresa Wright, The Canadian Press
