Province may be forced to take over more care homes: experts

The Manitoba government’s decision to expropriate a personal care home to prevent it from closing may be the start of a trend as facilities struggle to make ends meet.

“This is the start of a domino effect,” said Sue Vovchuk, executive director of the Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, after the for-profit, 78-bed Golden Door Geriatric Centre in Winnipeg was taken over by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

“There are a number of personal care homes right now that are just trying to keep the lights on,” said Vovchuk, who blames government underfunding.

“Long-term care in Manitoba is on the precipice of a crisis,” said the advocate who worked in the sector for more than 30 years. “We are in trouble — this is right across the sector, including the not-for-profit,” she said.

Ron Parent, CEO of the non-profit Niverville Heritage Centre, echoed the concern. “We don’t use the term ‘crisis’ lightly,” he said.

The sector has been underfunded since before the COVID-19 pandemic under the previous government, with provincial funding covering just over 90 per cent of their costs, said Parent, a member of the association board that represents non-profit and for-profit providers of 2,900 care-home beds in the province.

“Even as a non-profit — and I’m speaking with other affiliates within the Southern Health Authority — we do struggle balancing our budgets with our current funding,” he said.

The largest sustained increases in long-term care funding in more than a decade happened under the NDP’s watch; global funding to the WRHA increased by just over eight per cent in 2024–25 and more than nine per cent this year, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a prepared statement.

The increases are aimed at stabilizing the system by supporting staffing and operations, while maintaining publicly funded care capacity even as demand grows, the minister said Wednesday.

“While individual homes may experience unique financial pressures, our approach is to work directly with operators and regional health authorities to understand risks and respond proactively.”

The government is monitoring the system to address pressures early and protect capacity, Asagwara said, citing the Golden Door example.

“A for-profit operator indicated it intended to close, which would have displaced seniors, eliminated jobs, and reduced publicly funded beds at a time of high demand. When negotiations did not result in an agreement, we intervened to protect residents, workers, and Manitoba’s long-term care capacity.”

The minister has touted the option of building new personal care homes, whereas the previous Tory government oversaw a reduction in the number of PCH beds and housing units for seniors.

Vovchuk said adding new care homes won’t be enough to meet the growing demand from the “tsunami” of aging Manitobans if the province loses aging facilities.

“We have 123 personal-care homes right now in Manitoba and they’re old and their physical environment does not even support the evidence-based information on how we should be providing care,” she said.

Some small facilities outside the city don’t make money and can’t afford necessary upgrades, she said.

“Two small, family-owned sites can’t even afford to put sprinkler systems in right now. So we’re fighting right now to get funding for them to put in a sprinkler system,” Vovchuk said.

“They want to support seniors, they want to support their communities and aging in place, so folks don’t have to relocate” far from loved ones.

She said infrastructure must be modernized, while home care and community services must be upgraded.

Providing more funding for health care aides, who assist with bathing, dressing, movement, feeding, and light housekeeping, would prevent more people from having to move into a care home, she said.

“We need to look at simple solutions that are fast to do,” Vovchuk said. “If you don’t fix long-term care, you’re not going to fix acute care.”

Crowded hospital ERs and bed shortages are a result of not enough community and long-term care for patients who are ready to leave but need support, she said.

Parent said the non-profit Heritage Centre’s event centre and commercial space generate revenue that offsets some cost pressures.

“If you’re just a personal care home, it becomes more difficult. You may be able to raise funds with a foundation or fundraising event, but ultimately that pales in comparison to the overall funding.”

They may be forced to put off repairs to cover rising food costs, for instance, Parent said.

“We, as operators, make some kind of tough decisions without impacting current survival.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca