The Liberal government has appointed Lyne Chantal Boudreau as Minister of Seniors despite previously telling industry associations it wouldn’t.
Kathy Bockus, the MLA for Saint Croix, who was the Minister responsible for Seniors under the Blaine Higgs government criticized the Liberals for not committing to creating a stand-alone department and minister despite it being requested by stakeholders.
Boudreau was previously the Minister responsible for seniors, which does not carry an independent portfolio or budget, and seniors fell under the purview of Social Development.
“We’d be able to establish procedures and policies without having to go through social development,” Bockus said, speaking to The Courier. “I think our seniors are important enough in this province that they deserve a department of their own.”
The Progressive Conservatives released statement on Jan. 7 saying it and several associations involved with seniors and long-term care were given a hard no without explanation from the Holt government.
Bockus said had the PCs stayed in power, they likely would have been working towards a separate department, but had not developed one during her tenure.
“I was just working to upgrade what we already had, all the services and things,” she said.
Bockus said when she first sat down with leadership in the Department of Social Development, there wasn’t a lot of consultation being done with seniors. The Higgs government started the Nursing Home Without Walls program as a pilot, but found success with it and continued it and began expansion—aiming to keep seniors in their home longer—and is now being continued with the Liberal government.
A program that is being heavily used in Charlotte County, Bockus’s riding, through the Charlotte County Seniors Resource Centre.
“These are our seniors, they’ve built this province,” she said. “I just think that seniors are important enough that we need to dedicate a department to them.”
Both Horizon Health Network and Vitalite Health Network have said alternative level of care (ALC) patients, who no longer need to be in hospital and are waiting for placement, are placing regional hospitals in a state of overcapacity.
“This is not a request we make lightly, however, despite the great effort by staff and physicians to care for all inpatients, the current situation across our hospital system is unsustainable,” Margaret Melanson, the CEO of HHN said back in July.
Patients have reported being treated in hallways, storage closest and ambulance bays in conditions they describe as “disgusting”, according to reports by CBC New Brunswick.
Richard Loiser, the chief executive officer of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, said the decision to create an accountable ministerial position is one in the right direction.
“What we really do want is a separate department with a deputy minister and everything else that comes with it to focus on the needs of seniors and long term care, not only for today, but also have a long term vision, which is desperately needed in the situation we’re in today,” he said in an interview with The Courier.
Losier said a coalition of associations met with Premier Susan Holt in September and said it was clear the government was heading in that direction. He said time will tell whether this new position comes with results.
“The only thing we could do is to wait it out and see how this will turn out,” he said, noting the large number of seniors waiting in alternative levels of care beds in hospitals across the province.
Loiser said, right now, there are no new bed plans available in New Brunswick, with approximately 1,100 seniors waiting for placement in the province.
“If there’s no space in the community, it’s going to be an issue,” he said. “It all comes down, unfortunately, on a lot of fronts, it’s money.”
He said the work the government has done to improve compensation for those working in the long-term care sector has gone a long way in improving recruitment and retention.
But work is needed to improve the number of hours of care per patient. New Brunswick, he explained, hits at about 3.6 hours per patient, whereas neighbouring Nova Scotia are around 4.1 hours per patient.
“But you need investments, we’ll have to wait and see how this is going to play out,” he said, adding this was a predicted situation, and this government and successive governments must ensure long-term planning to avoid it from happening again.
The Courier asked for an interview from the Department of Social Development but did not hear back by deadline.
