Another nail in the long-term care coffin
Written by Bev Muendel-Atherstone
Tuesday, 08 December 2009
Re: Nov. 29 article, “New DAL facility set to open in Raymond.”
From the tone of the article, one would actually believe the opening of the Prairie Ridge and the closing of the Raymond Health Care Centre is a good thing. It is anything but! The closing of the Raymond Care Centre will eliminate all 34 long-term care (LTC) beds, providing yet another nail in the coffin for LTC in the province.
All 85 beds at Prairie Ridge will be designated assisted living (DAL), which is a lower level of care than LTC, with no RNs on site, only “on call.” But we are led to believe there will be RNs, “with the assurance of 24-hour professional nursing.” What does this assurance mean? By the way, how many RNs will lose their jobs as the Raymond Health Care Centre is closed?
The LTC beds at Raymond Centre will be initially reduced from 34 to five, “once those who are assessed for DAL beds have been moved to Prairie Ridge.”
OK, let’s do the math. So will 29 people in long-term care be reassessed as needing a lower level of care so they fit the DAL criteria? And what happens to the people other than those who can stay in the five LTC beds only until the Raymond Centre is demolished? When that happens, where do those five people go? Will people needing LTC be moved from Raymond? We know that when sick elderly are moved, often the result is death.
Instead of being forthright with Albertans, and telling us that the Raymond Health Care Centre with its 34 LTC beds will be closed, leaving no LTC beds in Raymond which will be replaced by a lower-level-of-care facility with 85 DAL beds, everything is given a positive and convoluted spin. In fact, they try to tell us there will actually be more beds. The likelihood of ever having 90 beds is low as the Raymond Centre is slated to be closed down completely, which would obliterate the five LTC beds most likely before all 85 DAL beds are phased in.
“Once seniors have moved in to the new facility, AHS will begin steps to close the (Raymond) care centre.” This is just one small part of the heinous Alberta Health Services plan get rid of most if not all LTC beds in the province.
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