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It is a move they claim no one wants nor will benefit from.
Families are speaking out for residents in a Lutheran care home in Regina that is about to close.
At a news conference held Thursday, the families stood alongside union workers and the NDP and called for the provincial government to reverse course and keep the 62 long-term care beds open.
“My father and my brother are both currently residents. Of course, having two families members here we are very, very concerned that they won’t end up together. They are both very emotionally dependent upon each other. They need to be together, they need each other. Many of the seniors in here will experience mental health issues, a mental health decline, if this home is closed,” said Val Schalme.
The home is owned by Eden Care Communities which is transitioning the facility to one that focuses on affordable and low-income housing for those with disabilities, seniors and others.
The government won’t take over the care home. The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) maintains it will work with the families impacted to find new locations in Regina for their loved ones.
Don Gunderson speaking at the Regina Lutheran Home. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
But Don Gunderson maintains that doesn’t diminish the impact those residents will face.
“My wife had a stroke in 2012. We had to wait a long time for her to get her into this residence. She doesn’t have family. But I am here every day for support and it is eight minutes from our house,” Gunderson said, standing outside the care home.
“She was bounced to a couple of nursing homes before and it just breaks my heart to see her losing her home and her family because this is her home and this is their family in there.”
Wait times for a bed at a long-term care center in Regina average about 53 days, or two-and-a-half times the provincial average. The closure of the Lutheran Care Home will bring the total number of special care homes offering long-term care in Regina down to twelve.
“There’s a huge shortage of affordable long-term care options in Regina, so it’s baffling and indefensible that this Sask. Party government is planning to close 62 more long-term care beds at a time we need more beds, not less,” said Regina NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon.
“It’s short-sighted and costs everyone when seniors are kept cooped up waiting in hospitals as they wait for long-term care options.”
The NDP maintains, the government did not consult residents or staff that it would not step in and maintain the home, despite months-long wait times for long-term care beds in Regina and the jobs on the line.
“It’s deeply disappointing that, after these folks paid taxes for years, the Sask. Party government rewards them by closing their care home,” said official opposition critic for seniors Matt Love. “It’s not too late to save these 62 families a whole lot of stress by supporting one of Regina’s most-loved care homes.”
-With files from 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn