SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
MLAs have heard a dramatic story detailing the perils of private, for profit long-term care facilities.

Barb Hood, executive director of the NWT Seniors' Society, left, Leon Peterson, president of the NWT Seniors' Society and Merlin Williams, president of the Yellowknife Seniors' Society make a presentation to MLAs last Thursday. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

It comes as the government considers all options including for-profit long-term care in order to head off a looming shortage of long-term care beds in Yellowknife and across the territory.

Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy revealed late last month that a new report shows that an additional 123 long-term care beds will be needed in Yellowknife by 2026 - across the territory that number grows to 259 beds total.

Long-term care is defined by the GNWT as a home-like facility that provides care and services for people who are no longer able to live independently and who require on-site nursing care, 24-hour supervision or personal support.

Last Thursday, the priorities and planning committee listened to a presentation by both the Yellowknife and NWT seniors' societies that focused on long-term care. NWT Seniors' Society President Leon Peterson told MLAs about his older sister who had Alzheimer's disease and lived in a for-profit long-term care facility in Nainamo, B.C. Peterson said his sister fell and broke her hip and then two months later she fell again and broke the other hip.

"That was more than my sister could take and she decided to give up eating and died a month later," an emotional Peterson told the group. "If the government could assure me that these things wouldn't happen and controls were put in place to stop this then I may have a different opinion. We don't support a for-profit program."

Peterson said his group has looked into for-profit models across the country and don't like what they see. He said that it allows for staff shortages that can lead to accidents and even deaths like his sister's. Peterson urged the government to stay away from for-profit long-term care facilities. He praised the city's existing facility, Avens, as one that delivers the level of care that seniors deserve.

MLAs have discussed possible solutions to the looming crisis in Yellowknife including using part of the existing Stanton Territorial Hospital for long-term care beds once the new hospital is in operation and expanding the Avens Centre.

Stephen Jackson, chief executive officer at Avens, said the facility is in fact private but is not-for-profit, is community governed and answers to a board of directors. He said that makes it distinctly different from a for-profit facility. He agrees with the seniors' societies that the time for action on this issue is now.

"We at Avens think we are part of the solution. We have some land behind our facility which is ready. We invested in the last year or two on preparing that land. We have the experience. We have the passion. We think that with 30 years of experience of delivering long-term care in the NWT that we are the preferred partner," Jackson said. "There was no government funding committed at the time. Avens simply wanted to take a leap of faith. We knew that the numbers were going to demonstrate that this community, this territory desperately needed more long-term care beds and we wanted to be ready for it."

Last April, it was announced that a proposed Avens expansion, including 60 long-term care beds would be put on hold. It was reported that the expansion would cost about $28 million but Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy has suggested it would be considerably more than that - between $48 and $90 million. He said that it costs between $800,000 and $1.3 million per bed to construct long-term care. He also said that it costs $130,000 per year to operate a long-term care bed.

"The original $28 million wasn't for 60 beds. It was a phased plan that could go up to 60 beds. If we were to build it and run it ourselves ... it would take significantly more dollars," Abernethy said.

Gord Van Tighem, chair of Avens board of directors, said that he doesn't know exactly how much it costs Avens to operate long-term care beds but added that it is significantly lower than the $130,000 quoted by the health minister.

"We operate below what it costs some of the facilities that are here, specifically the hospital," Van Tighem said. He said they do not intend to go to the government with a specific proposal to build 60 long-term care beds but will work with health and social services to try to come up with a solution to the looming bed shortage.

"Essentially, the government is our customer and we work with our customer," Van Tighem said. "The government has a process and we are now working with them hand-in-hand through their process."

The idea of a private long-term care facility in the NWT may be a moot point. Debbie Delancey, deputy minister of health and social services admits there has been no expressed interest from any private operators, nor she said has the GNWT reached out to any private operators to see if they would be interested in setting up shop in the territory.

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