Long-term care operators warn of cuts

More funds sought from government

Two not-for-prof it agencies that together operate more than 1,000 long-term care beds in Alberta say their operations are financially strained and they will need to consider staffing or service reductions unless the government gives them more money.

The Shepherd’s Care Foundation in Edmonton, along with the Calgary-based Bethany Care Society, say a new patient-based funding model from Alberta Health Services is insufficient to manage rising expenses.

“Our costs have been increasing the last five years, faster than any increase we’re getting from AHS,” John Pray, president of the Shepherd’s Care Foundation, said Monday.

“The bottom line: we actually lost money in our long-term care centres last year, and we expect it won’t be any better this year,” he continued.

The 40-year-old foundation offers a range of accommodations, including two long-term care facilities for residents who need extensive help — Kensington Continuing Care, with 65 beds, and Mill Woods Care Centre, with 147 beds.

Pray said the foundation has been using a little of the money it receives for its other services, such as assisted-living and home care, to keep the long-term care operations intact. However, he said this practice can’t continue, which means the agency will eventually have to consider laying off staff or reducing hours.

“We will try to get creative. We’re in this for all the right reasons and I think we give great quality care. We’ll just have to figure it out, but you can’t continue year after year where your costs are more than your funding.”

Bethany Care Society, which manages 800 long-term care beds around southern and central Alberta, said it is examining “scenarios” for handling the new funding model.

In an information bulletin sent out last Friday, president Greer Black said his organiza- tion is studying the effects on its six properties.

“We must continue to live within our resources. With this new model, we are acutely aware that we will need to make staffing changes and find creative new approaches to how we deliver care,” Black said in the bulletin.

“Our priority is to develop a model that will ensure safe care for residents, but we are also aware that this funding model will result in service reductions in some areas …”

The warning from the notfor-profits comes as AHS pushes ahead with the new funding model, which it says is designed to ensure equality for all long-term care residents, whether their care is provided by a public institution, a notfor-profit agency or a for-profit corporation.

The system uses a formula to take into account the needs of each patient, calculate the health resources required, then allocates a standard funding amount to the care provider.

The old system was considered more uneven, in that different long-term care operators each received a block of funding based on individual agreements with health authorities.