For immediate release: Tuesday, June 17, 2003

EDMONTON – Increases in the cost of providing continuing care facilities must not be taken out of the hides of seniors and their families, says the president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

AUPE President Dan MacLennan was responding to today’s announcement by the government of Alberta that accommodation rates in Alberta’s long-term care facilities will jump by more than $4,000 per year on Aug. 1.

“This will hurt senior citizens who require long-term care and it will hurt their families,” MacLennan said.

“AUPE has said repeatedly that Albertans want their health system to be properly funded," MacLennan said.

“The health care system includes safe, long-term care facilities for dependent seniors,’ he said. “Properly funded does not mean allowing whopping fee increases that will increase the burden on our seniors and their families by thousands of dollars a year.”

In addition to the unfair burden imposed on seniors, MacLennan said, allowing fees to soar increases the chances of pitting the needs of one group of citizens against another.

“We do not want our members being told they cannot be paid fair pay increases because seniors’s fees should not rise,” MacLennan said. “And we don’t want seniors being told their economic burden has to get even worse to pay our members a fair wage.”

“The answer is a properly funded public health system that includes long-term care for dependent seniors,” he stated.

MacLennan noted that AUPE members working in long-term care have held several information pickets at their worksites about continuing care funding. “Along with AUPE’s Women’s Committee, these workers are planning events on Sept. 5 to celebrate Grandparents Day and again express their concerns about funding for long-term care.”

MacLennan also expressed concern that the government’s push for so-called public-private partnerships – or Triple-Ps – will result in a taxpayer-supported windfall for operators of long-term care facilities at the same time as fees continue to rise.

He said that while the province says the increase is to “improve the quality of resident care and services,” AUPE fears the increase will end up in the pockets of private for-profit operators.

“Triple-Ps are not the answer,” MacLennan said. “Every study shows they do not save money and act only as a subsidy for private business. Click here to read AUPE’s news release on Triple-Ps

“The answer is to properly fund our health care system – which is exactly what the citizens of Alberta want,” he concluded.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)