“If we get more (long-term care) spaces on the Saskatchewan side that’s great, but we still need more spaces on the Alberta side,” says Graham Brown president of the Lloydminster Concerned Citizens for Seniors Care Society.
His comments come as he updated on the advocacy work the group has been leading in the last little while.
Brown says they have been working with the Lloydminster & Region Housing group to find out more about the needs of their clients and issues that they can advocate on their behalf like funding, upgrades and maintenance.
“There hasn’t been any maintenance for a long time – and it’s doing catch up with that. Also there has been a reorganization happening in the last year of putting all the lodges on the Alberta side with Pioneer Lodge. So, with a new board, staff and management – and getting their plans put together, the budgets organized – upgrades and maintenance is the job now,” says Brown.
With long-term care spaces in mind, Brown says the focus is switching to the residence on the Saskatchewan side.
“We are trying to work on more spaces for long term care and it looks like the number one project next is going to be to replace the Jubilee Home and hopefully we can keep working on that – not losing sight of course that we also need more spaces on the Alberta side.”
As MyLloydminsterNow has reported the city is short 60 beds currently and by 2035, that need will climb to 148 long-term care spaces.
Brown addressed the issue of clients with acute medical needs that are presently at the Lloydminster Hospital awaiting a space at one of the long-term care facilities. Brown says they are aware of the back-up at the hospital because of the lack of spaces and this is compounded when a client is sent to the next available space which is not necessarily nearby.
“So, there’s a number of people that are in the Lloydminster Hospital waiting for a space. And what happens is if there is a space that becomes available in a community 150 kilometres outside of Lloydminster – quite often they are sent to those towns and facilities until they can get a space here – which we feel is wrong. There’s no way that people should be torn when they are in this situation. They are not well – they need some proper care. And they need their friends and family around them.”
Brown adds they continue to work on moving the needle forward on the range of advocacy issues for seniors care.
The group holds weekly meetings at the Legacy Centre and can be contacted via its social media.