Sask. NDP glad for Extendicare management transition, but say it comes late

NDP Seniors Critic Matt Love called an announcement by the provincial government Thursday a “step in the right direction,” but said it was being made too late.

Love told media Thursday the announcement that the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) would be taking over five Extendicare long-term care facilities in the province “long overdue.”

Love said the Saskatchewan NDP has been highlighting the problems with private, for-profit long-term care options for nearly a decade, stating the party was calling for the decision announced Thursday since last year.

The issues with Extendicare, Love said, are not new and instead highlight the failures of a for-profit provider.

“The tragic and deadly second wave hit Saskatchewan nearly a year ago and it was so deadly for seniors in long-term care, so the issues here are certainly not new,” Love said.

Though he called the province’s announcement “good,” he said it didn’t come without questions.

“What sours today’s announcement … is that it took so many preventable and tragic COVID deaths inside Extendicare-owned facilities to get here,” said Love.

He highlighted problems with the timeline leading up to Thursday’s announcement, noting how long it took since the release of the ombudsman’s report — which happened Aug. 5 — for permanent changes to take place at the problematic Extendicare facilities.

“Let’s face it, the ombudsman report was a damning indictment of this government’s ability to implement a long-term care system that benefits seniors and all residents of long-term care,” he said.

Love said the NDP will continue to follow up on the issue of care at Extendicare and other long-term care facilities in the province as a deadline for the transition of management of Extendicare facilities has not been put in place.

He also commented on the government’s lack of action, which he called “appalling.”

Since March 2020, 39 residents have died as a result of poor standards of care at Extendicare facilities in the province.

“Today, if I have one thought, my thought is with those families,” Love said, also mentioning those living and working in the facilities who have gone through traumatic times dealing with Extendicare’s problems, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Love said he wants to see that staff at Extendicare facilities are transitioned to the SHA and supported throughout the changes made to the long-term care centres.

“The staff who did so much to care for those souls, who today are caring for the seniors who are living in those facilities, they courageously came to work throughout the pandemic … and they need to be taken care of during this transition,” he said.

Solutions to an ongoing problem

Moving forward, Love wants to see all outstanding recommendations by independent officers in the province implemented at the five Extendicare facilities.

“We need to agree to the full implementation of all recommendations from folks like the provincial ombudsman and the auditor, as well as the upcoming ones we’ll get in our year-end reports,” Love said.

He also called for inspections of all long-term care facilities in Saskatchewan and for the findings of those inspections to be made public, as well as minimum levels of care to be instituted at long-term care facilities.

“We need to step up and finally provide the necessary funding to the sector to protect those most at risk during the pandemic, something the provincial government has not yet done,” Love said.

Concerns about standard of care

Love referenced a comment made by Minister of Seniors Everett Hindley on Thursday morning that said standards of care would not change for residents of the five Extendicare facilities transitioning to the care of the SHA.

“To hear from the minister that he has no interest in improving the standard of care for the residents is something we’ll continue to challenge him on,” Love said.

He noted stricter regulations are needed and minimum standards of care must be met.

“This is appalling, considering where our province is today and considering what the last 21 months have been like in Saskatchewan,” Love said.

Love said seniors in Saskatchewan deserve “the highest level of care that this province can provide and that this government needs to be doing everything possible to ensure that seniors are receiving that care.”

Leadership concerns

“This is an ability to not just take over but to take charge,” Love said of the government’s announcement.

Love said the NDP wants to see issues of understaffing — which were reportedly chronic at Extendicare facilities long before the pandemic — finally addressed, as well as minimum hours of care afforded to each resident in the home.

“This is an opportunity to look at the entire system, to look at what’s happened during the entire pandemic, which is expose failings across the system,” he said.