Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says today’s announcement of a mere 30 long-term care spaces spread out over six communities shortchanges Alberta’s seniors, and that the direction Premier Redford is taking with regard to long-term care is the same direction as the Stelmach administration – the wrong direction.

Earlier this afternoon the Alberta government announced just over 500 new “affordable living” spaces, but only 30 of those are actual long-term care spaces, which the province needs most desperately. The remainder are so-called “supportive living” spaces, which do not provide any health services.

“This government has abandoned its duty to senior citizens,” Sherman says. “30 new spaces won’t make a dent in a lineup that’s already hundreds of seniors deep. Today we have hundreds of seniors awaiting placement in our hospitals, and well over a thousand seniors awaiting placement in the community. Until we get our seniors out of hospitals and into long term care, we will continue to have long waits in our emergency rooms.”

Sherman adds that the Redford government is nickel and diming seniors at their most vulnerable.

“They’re investing tens of millions of dollars in capital funding to for-profit providers, and there will have to be operational grants down the road as well,” Sherman says. “Private providers have to make a profit, and they’ll take that profit from two sources: taxpayers and vulnerable seniors in care. And let’s not forget that Redford is removing the cap on accommodation fees for residents of long-term care facilities, making life even tougher for our seniors.”

Sherman says things will be different for our seniors when Albertans elect a government that makes the right decisions.

“A Sherman Liberal government would invest in publicly-funded, publicly delivered, non-profit community-based home care, seniors lodges and long-term care.” Sherman says. “The men and women that built this province deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, like human beings, not commodities. They need affordable, quality care, the kind that’s best delivered through the public system.”

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For more information contact:

Earl J. Woods
(780) 904-5430

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