Editorials

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Personal care homes are shortchanged

By: Editorial

27/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 1

THE auditor general's review of Manitoba's personal care homes found that few of them met the standards for keeping residents safe and well cared for, but noted that sounded more alarming than it is because the threshold is fairly high. Auditor General Carol Bellringer said that simple slip-ups -- writing a resident's care plan in pencil rather than pen -- would register a fail in a whole category. Health Minister Theresa Oswald assured Manitobans that with a bit more time, all the Ts would be crossed at the 126 nursing homes.

A closer read of the details of how nursing homes are funded by regional health authorities uncovered hints of a deeper concern. Manitoba is getting greyer, rapidly, and even a lot of work to keep aging boomers in their homes longer cannot alter the fact that a lot more people will be banging on the doors of nursing homes. In eight years, the number of Manitobans older than 75 will start to increase dramatically. By 2036, that population will almost double, to 157,000. At present, more than 1,000 Manitobans are waiting for a personal care home bed.

Quality of care depends on nursing homes having sufficient staff, appropriate equipment and well-maintained facilities that meet the needs of the residents. The auditor general concluded that nursing homes (both for- and not-for-profit) are getting shortchanged in both operating and capital budgets. The per-diem rates are supposed to be set according to the level of care a resident requires, but the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, for example, has not assessed care levels for eight years. The average age of those entering nursing homes has risen, which implies the level of care has risen, in step. The WRHA's funding rates for capital expenses, which includes equipment, renovations and repairs, have been frozen for about a decade. On top of this, the regional health authorities are moving ahead with a laudable plan to assign one resident per room, improving privacy and comfort for all.

The WRHA concedes that care levels are unadjusted and have likely increased. It notes, however, that the rates of the per diems have risen and says a new funding formula, which increases the hours of direct daily care for all residents, will boost operating budgets. Both the WRHA and the auditor agree it will be years before that new money is rolled out completely. The capital funding will have to wait to be addressed, the WRHA says, at some time in the distant future, after operating budgets are fixed.

The details within the auditor's report hint of an impending crunch, as an underfunded system meets a steep rise in a demand for beds. Ms. Bellringer found personal care homes were charging appropriate fees to those able to pay. Unless health authorities' funding gets closer to reflecting the costs in the next few years, an audit of the quality of care in nursing homes in another decade may come to a decidedly different conclusion.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 27, 2009 A14

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1 Comments

Posted by: Jay

November 27, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Manitobas personal care homes are a disgrace. What is needed is a Health Minister with a backbone that will tell them to shape up now or face huge fines. Instead we get excuses, that these were just targets and maybe they were too hard to reach. Proving once again that we here in Manitoba are second class citizens who deserve second class health care.

Boomers retire to BC at least there you will have a chance at being cared for.