EDMONTON – A survey of 561 CUPE members employed by long term care and residential care facilities in Alberta shows little improvement in the conditions of the province’s seniors’ facilities.
CUPE Alberta President Dennis Mol reported that over eighty percent of responses from employees of assisted living facilities noted residents need more health care than their facility provides.
“Seniors are being denied the health care they need,” said Mol. “And what’s worse, they are being gouged for the minimal services they do receive.”
Results of the survey include:
• 73% of respondents report staffing levels are not high enough to keep up with resident needs.
• 89% of respondents in long term care, and 67% of respondents in resident care report little or no time for one-on-one care.
• 53% of respondents report that equipment is out of dates or in bad repair.
• 82% of respondents report that residents require more support than can be provided in a lodge/residential setting.
• 71% of respondents report residents on wait lists for long term care.
“Four years after the Auditor General’s report on the state of seniors’ care in Alberta, the system is still in chaos,” said Mol. “The Conservatives have failed seniors, and failed Alberta families.”
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