Take profit out of seniors’ care, NDP demands

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This article was published 18/08/2021 (1485 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, pointing to the “horrible tragedy” at the Maples Personal Care Home, in which 58 seniors died during the second wave of the pandemic, pledged to make long-term care for seniors part of the public system and to develop national standards for care.

Singh, who was campaigning in British Columbia on Wednesday, took part in a virtual news conference with Winnipeg North NDP candidate Melissa Chung-Mowat.

“What happened (at Maples) was something that should never have happened It could have been avoided. And it is why we are committed to fighting to ensure this never happens again.

“Profit came before the care of our seniors, and in Winnipeg North and in Manitoba, it is so heartbreaking to think of the horrible tragedy at the Maples Personal Care Home.”

The home was hit by a COVID-19 outbreak on October that lasted almost three months. During a 48 hour period one weekend in November, the home was forced to call for paramedics to help overwhelmed staff look after seniors. Eight residents died that weekend while, during the entire outbreak, 58 residents died; 231 residents and staff were infected.

The province launched an external review into the facility and a report issued in January outlined 17 provincewide recommendations for change. Earlier this month, then-health minister Heather Stefanson said all the recommendations for the Maples had been completed.

But Singh noted the owner of the Maples home is Revera Inc. — the second-largest personal care home operator in the country — and the owner of Revera is the federal government itself, through the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, is a Crown corporation.

“It is completely owned by a federal agency — it needs to be public,” he said. “What we can do about this is stop just talking about how horrible this is and commit to real action.

“We need to get profit out of long-term care, make sure long-term care is rolled into a public system, so people get the highest-quality care they deserve and need. We need to make sure we have national standards which lay out the best practices for how we can best care for our loved ones and our seniors in long-term care.

“We can do this and we can do this together.”

Chung-Mowat, who is running against incumbent Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, has lived in North Point Douglas for nine years and has worked with BUILD Inc., United Way Winnipeg, AMIK Inc., and SEED Winnipeg Inc.

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She said what happened at the Maples is one of the reasons she decided to run in the election for the NDP.

“I want to fight for seniors,” said Chung-Mowat. “I want better for our community.

“We need to fight for long-term care and we need to end profit in long-term care.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.