Seniors agency opposes private care deal
An inner-city agency that caters to needy seniors is calling on Alberta Health Services to rethink a decision to give a for-profit company the contract to provide home care to its troubled group of clients.
The Operation Friendship Seniors Society, a non-profit group that offers housing and other supports to Edmontonians in need over age 55, says it is being forced to lay off 17 staff members next month.
Those workers have been providing home care to 68 residents at two of the society’s residences: Sparling Lodge and McCauley Lodge. The residents, many of whom have mental health and addictions issues, need help with bathing, feeding, getting dressed, taking medication and other necessities.
As of July 22, their care will be transferred to Toronto-based CBI Health Group as part of a massive consolidation of home care providers in Calgary and Edmonton.
“Change is not always better,” said Gail Sopkow, the executive director of Operation Friendship.
“I think this is the wrong move by AHS. We’re afraid of what will happen to the seniors.”
Sopkow said the society put in a bid with AHS to continue providing its own home care, but couldn’t compete against the large, national company that won the contract.
The problem, she said, is that the society’s clients have particularly difficult needs that are best served by people who know them well. She said it’s unclear if CBI’s staff can handle the complex problems they will encounter every day at the lodges.
“Our clients have a high incidence of lifestyle and behavioural issues and they have minimal family support,” she said. “It’s helpful for us to have the same workers who deal with the same seniors and have a rapport with them.”
Sopkow said she has heard nothing from AHS in recent weeks but has a small amount of hope that the health authority might be re-examining the society’s case.
That’s because AHS has backtracked a little on its home-care consolidation by allowing three supportive living co-operatives to continue operating their own services with their own staff. AHS president Chris Eagle said last week that while most of the consolidation will continue as planned, the authority will investigate the possibility of a continued role for outgoing agencies that provide highly specialized services.