NDP Opposition Leader Ryan Meili and Seniors Critic Matt Love hold a media conference near Preston Extendicare on May 30, 2022. (Dallas Dahlseide/650 CKOM)

By Dallas Dahlseide/650 CKOM News

Meili, NDP call on provincial government to improve long-term care facilities

May 31, 2022 | 10:03 AM

The NDP wants to see several changes to the current state of care that many seniors in the province are receiving.

Most of the issues have been highlighted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and NDP Leader Ryan Meili wants the provincial government to step up.

The federal government recently granted the province $32 million to go towards long-term care funding.

Meili says this money could have been life-changing in helping the people in Saskatchewan.

“We saw over the pandemic a situation where it was made so clear that the way in which seniors have been cared for in Saskatchewan is completely inadequate,” Meili said Monday.

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“It was very disserving to hear last week that with a large influx of federal dollars, this province is deciding to do nothing more to improve those conditions.”

Seniors Critic Matt Love pointed out several important areas that need upgrades when it comes to long-term care, “whether it be in things like infection control, facility upgrades, ventilation (or) getting to adequate staffing levels.”

According to Love, the provincial government is using the money to backfill previous costs associated with the pandemic.

“In my opinion, that’s not what these funds are intended for,” Love said. “We’ve been listening to folks who live in our homes, their family members and the folks who staff and work in those homes They tell us over and over again that staff who work there are run off their feet.

“If the minister were to walk in a home, he would see staff who can’t keep up with the needs of the residents who live there.”

To date during the pandemic, Love said Saskatchewan has lost 223 long-term care patients who were being attended to in one of many facilities.

He says we must continue to do a better job in the future with our facilities so that these patients get the best care they possibly can get.

“We’ve been calling for improved minimum standards of care in this province for a decade and I believe the first area that we should be spending this money is for staffing levels,” Love said.

“We’ve seen other provinces take this money, notably Ontario, and use the money to improve staffing levels in long-term care. I don’t think Saskatchewan seniors deserve any less than what seniors are getting in other provinces.”

Meili says he is concerned about the current generation of seniors and says they should be too, especially after this situation.

“I think it makes it tougher for the premier to make the case,” Meili said. “I too believe we need more dollars from the federal government. They are not making a sufficient contribution to provincial health spending.

“However, when you get those dollars and then you say, ‘We’re not going to do anything new with them,’ it makes it harder for the premier to say ‘Give us more’ when he has shown he’s not someone you can trust to do the right thing.”