Long-term care should go public

Private nursing homes don’t have enough resources to take proper care of residents or staff

As a worker in a not-for-profit private nursing home, I have seen many of my colleagues burn out and leave the field. I have seen too many seniors receive barebones care because of the “level of care” deficiencies that cause high staff turnover and understaffing.

This vicious cycle, where understaffing leads to higher workloads and lack of access to vacation time, resulting in staff turnover, must be stopped.

The recruitment and retention crisis in private care homes, either for-profit or non-profit, predates the pandemic, but the pandemic made it worse.

In 2020, I saw 14 resident care workers, three licensed practical nurses and three registered nurses leave my workplace to go to the public long-term care homes.

Thankfully, most of them went to fill voids in the public sector where wages are better, but it shows how elder care environments are not the rewarding centres of compassion they should be.

Workers and seniors deserve better! This is why I advocate bringing long-term care completely under our public services.

Compared to when I began my career in long-term care, seniors now are coming into our homes at an older age, with more complex needs. Yet, to this day, the government of P.E.I. is just meeting the minimum standards for staffing levels, which is not enough care hours for the needs of our residents.

Proper funding might cost more, but the government must remember we are talking about ensuring the dignity of seniors and the workers who care for them.

My colleagues, many of whom are working two jobs to make ends meet, cannot afford to wait years before we see real change.

Transitioning long-term care into a real quality public service, properly aligned with our health-care system, will bring in the accountability and transparency that has been so desperately lacking in the private sector.

This will require resources too, as there are just not enough beds in public care settings.

Expanding the public longterm care program will take time, but seniors need better care now and workers deserve immediate working condition improvements.

As we work to make longterm care public, the government should intervene today to bridge the gap by improving working conditions and increasing staffing levels in the private sector to parity with the public sector.

This would facilitate the transition and end unnecessary transfer of staff where one institution robs Peter to pay Paul.