Elder day care closure frustrates families

A day program that helps older adults in Charleswood stay connected to their community is closing at the end of the month, causing concern for participants and their families now trying to fill the void.

Kathy Brett James said her elderly mom was on a wait list for more than a year before getting into the Charleswood Adult Day Program this summer and said she looks forward to attending every week.

“It has been great for her,” James said. “She’s having conversations instead of being by herself all day.”

For more than 30 years, the program provided a welcoming place for connection, companionship and support for older adults and their families. It helped participants remain active, engaged and connected to their community while also providing respite and support for caregivers.

“She’s happy and she has fun and she does something different,” said James, whose widowed mother lives with one of her siblings who works during the day.

She said she was disappointed to learn that Oct. 30 is the program’s final day.

The funder — the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority — and the operator, Lions Housing Centres, sent a letter Sept. 16 to day club members and their families informing them of the closure without providing a reason. The letter said the WRHA is working closely with partners to explore options for current participants and individuals on the waiting list and that a home care case co-ordinator would contact them with options to try to meet their needs.

James said the options aren’t great. Her mom, who sews and gardens and who she said deals with mild dementia, could get her name on a wait list for another adult day program downtown and pay an additional $12 for transit, James said.

She and her siblings are pushing for the Charleswood adult day program on Roblin Boulevard to remain open.

The issue was raised by their MLA Kathleen Cook (Progressive Conservative — Roblin) Tuesday during question period at the Manitoba legislature.

“There is a quality program serving over 100 clients in west Winnipeg, helping keep people independent in their homes and providing respite for caregivers,” Cook, the PC health critic said in the chamber. “Most of these clients are elderly. Many live with dementia. Losing their place in this day program, having to travel long distances and enrolling in different day programs will be deeply disruptive.

“I ask the minister, why are they refusing to take the common sense action here and keep this program open in its current location?”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in the chamber that the government is expanding the program to new locations without providing details. A statement issued later by press secretary Robel Berhane said the province recognizes the importance of adult day services and that programming remaining in Charleswood is a priority.

“We are committed to ensuring services continue without interruption for current participants… Additional programming will open at Deer Lodge Centre in November to expand and help maintain access to these important services.”

The minister said the province is looking to expand adult day programs across Manitoba, including in Charleswood, “so more seniors can access the care, connection and support they need, close to home.”

People close to the Charleswood day program, who asked not to be identified, said it had been operating with a deficit for several years and that Lions Housing wasn’t prepared to renew the five-year lease without adequate funding from the WRHA. The lease expires at the end of November and the WRHA did not agree to sign the lease and run the program, they said.

Four staff members are employed by the program. Three are being laid off and one has been offered reduced hours at another location, they said.

A spokesperson for the WRHA said it had no involvement in the decision to close the program.

In a statement Tuesday, the health authority said it has acted quickly to identify available spaces in other adult day programs across the region and is working to reopen adult day programming in the Charleswood area.

James said the landlord has indicated that a new tenant for the current space hasn’t signed a lease yet. She’s hopeful for her mom’s sake and others in the program that the province and the WRHA change their minds and keep it open at its current location.

“For her to be enthusiastic about this is great because as people age, they get a little grumpy,” she said. “She’s just having a really good time there.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca