P.E.I. health minister supports move to new federal long-term care standards

P.E.I. Health Minister Mark McLane threw his support behind a motion from the Green Party in the legislature Wednesday urging the provincial government to adopt new federal standards for long-term care.

The non-binding motion passed, but McLane said he will wait for guidance from an external review on long-term care commissioned by the province a year ago.

That review, meant to explore how public and private long-term care facilities fared during the COVID-19 pandemic, was originally expected to be delivered last fall. McLane told the legislature the review should be completed "very soon."

The new federal standards, considered voluntary, were developed in response to the pandemic, which by July 2022 had been responsible for the deaths of 17,000 long-term care residents across the country.

Some private homes not meeting current standards

During question period, Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker cited a CBC P.E.I. report from February that showed multiple private long-term care homes on the Island are failing to meet the current provincial standards. Four out of 10 private care homes in P.E.I. are currently operating on provisional licences as a result.

Bevan-Baker suggested the provincial government wasn't doing enough to hold private LTC facilities accountable.

"Islanders expect and deserve better care for their elders, and it's government's job to make sure they get it."

Some families called for a public inquiry into long-term care. But the government said it first wanted to conduct a review.

Bevan-Baker said Islanders have been waiting a long-time for that, and asked McLane when would it be completed. 

'Analyzing data'

McLane said the government is still working on analyzing data from "surveys, stakeholder interviews, submissions and public consultations."

"That's an important part of this process of how we move forward with our long-term care industry on Prince Edward Island," he said.

We've been waiting a very long-time for this long-term care report. It was promised last fall and then in the spring, and we still haven't seen it.- Peter Bevan-Baker

McLane said operators were having challenges with staffing, but "nobody wants to close beds."

But Bevan-Baker questioned whether the Progressive Conservatives believe private profit "trumps our seniors' right to care and safety."

"We've been waiting a very long-time for this long-term care report. It was promised last fall and then in the spring, and we still haven't seen it."

Patients transferred

Long-term care beds on P.E.I. are about equally split between public and private. However, the Greens suggested the care at public facilities is better.

An internal review completed last year by the province concluded "public and private long-term care homes operate in markedly different ways, which may result in different access to services, care experiences for residents and work-life experiences for staff members."

Green MLA Karla Bernard said it is "concerning" how many patients in private long-term care homes are being transferred to public care homes "in the hopes that they would receive better care."

Neither Bernard nor McLane provided the actual number of patients who were transferred.

New standards would serve as 'bridge'

But McLane said adopting the new standards would help level the playing field.

"I think it's important that we adhere to these standards," said McLane. "I think it'll bridge the private and public facilities that we have to the same similar standard of care. So I think it's a great idea."

There are actually two sets of standards that were developed: One set to deal with care, the other with physical infrastructure.

I think it'll bridge the private and public facilities that we have to the similar standard of care. So I think it's a great idea.- Mark McLane

Together they tackle everything from how buildings are designed and constructed, to infection control, to visitor policies meant to ensure residents maintain some level of social interaction even during a public health emergency.

"We know during COVID that people were left for long periods of time eating meals by themselves. So that social isolation — it would guarantee that that wouldn't happen," said Bernard.

"It would also guarantee certain standards when it comes to bathing times and hygiene and health and safety and all those things."

Ramsay Duff, chair of the Private Nursing Homes' Association of P.E.I., has put his support behind the new standards, saying if they had been implemented before COVID-19 struck, "we would not have had the level of death rate, or the acuity of sickness that impacted so many Islanders."

But operators have also said they would require more government funding to implement the new standards.

On May 2, cabinet approved an increase in the per diems paid to private nursing homes amounting to a 12 per cent increase in accommodation rates compared to 2020, and a 22 per cent increase in the daily fee for basic health care services.

The increases were made retroactive to April 2, 2022.

McLane said there could also be government funding to help operators with capital costs involved in meeting the new standards.