Critics concerned over lack of minimum care hours in Alberta continuing care regulations

Alberta's new continuing care regulations come into effect April 1, but critics are questioning why the new rules do not prescribe how many hours of care residents of a facility should receive. 

The Nursing Homes Operations Regulation said each resident of a facility should get a minimum 1.9 hours of nursing and personal care each day, but the new Continuing Care Act Regulations are silent on the issue. 

"Until now, if an Albertan wanted to be assured that their loved one would get a minimum standard of care, it was in the law," NDP Leader Rachel Notley said at a news conference Tuesday. "Now there is no guarantee."

The new regulations were approved by cabinet in a closed-door meeting. They were published online at the end of February.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the government is providing funding so continuing care providers can provide an average of 3.62 hours of care a day. 

Notley said that's not the same as putting those minimum standards into law. She said the hours would be discretionary and subject to one-on-one discussions between the government and contracted caregivers. 

The United Nurses of Alberta are also warning about the change. UNA president Heather Smith said in a news release that a report commissioned by the province three years ago recommended a jump in the hours of care each resident received. 

Smith said the new regulations go in the other direction.

"We are moving to zero hours of care," she said. "This is extremely dangerous."

Flexibility for operators

During Tuesday's question period, LaGrange said the standard of 1.9 hours of daily care hadn't been updated since 1985. She said the government consulted with operators, workers and residents. 

"We heard that changes were needed to provide better flexibility and to allow the operators to develop staffing plans that really meet the needs of not just their facilities but also their patients unique needs," LaGrange told the legislature. 

Notley said Ontario has prescribed four hours of care per resident each day. She wants the government to change the regulations to include that amount as a minimum. 

Questions about the new continuing care standards come as the government continues to face criticism over the case of Blair Canniff, an Edmonton stroke patient who was taken to a motel in Leduc by a contracted service provider after he was discharged from the Royal Alexandra Hospital earlier this month. 

Canniff is paralyzed on one side and uses a wheelchair. He says he was told he was going to a long-term care facility. Instead, he was dropped at the motel, where he was given fast food meals and struggled to get into the bathroom and the bed. He was moved back to the hospital a week later. 

LaGrange said during the review of her budget estimates Tuesday that Canniff chose to go to the Travelodge in Leduc after discussions with Alberta Health Services.

While she was questioned by reporters later, LaGrange said she had received information about Canniff's case from Alberta Health Services.  She said the non-profit provider Contentment Social Services chose to move him to the motel.