REGINA - Opposition MLAs as well as supporters and CUPE members rallied outside Regina Lutheran Home Thursday as they called on the Sask Party government to reverse the transfer of residents out of the long term care facility.
“Our call is simple. Our call is common sense,” said Opposition Critic for Seniors Matt Love.
“The Sask Party must step in and save one Regina’s most beloved care homes. 62 families and over 100 workers call this facility home. We believe it’s more than reasonable to ask the government to step up, save the 62 families stress and heartbreak, save these hundred good mortgage-paying jobs and take control of the Lutheran care home.”
Eden Care Communities had informed Saskatchewan Health Authority in April of plans to move all residents out of Regina Lutheran Home in a year’s time. Love noted that the care home gave the government six months to put a transition plan in place and negotiate a deal.
“Last week the government snapped their fingers, demanded that everyone needs to leave. No consultation, no negotiation that they can point to. A lot of our parents and grandparents with more intensive medical needs can’t just pick up and move.”
Love also pointed to wait times for long term beds in Regina averaging about 53 days, or two and 1/2 times the provincial average. He also pointed to seniors having to live for weeks in hospital beds while waiting for long term care spots.
“This decision simply defies all logic,” said Love.
NDP MLAs Trent Wotherspoon and Noor Burki were on hand, as were several family members of residents of the care homes. Frequent among the concerns was of the mental health and well-being of residents.
Among those at the gathering was Val Schalme, who expressed concerns her two family members who live in the home and who rely on each other for emotional support will end up apart after they are moved out.
“Premier Moe, you claim on your billboards 'growth that works for everyone',” said Schalme. “This is not growth, this is destruction, this is a horrible blow to our whole healthcare system and long-term care system.”
CUPE members also decried the loss of jobs to workers who have been there upwards of 30 or 40 years, as well as the impact on the impending closure on residents. Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Local 5430, joined in the call for the Saskatchewan Health Authority to pause the transfer of residents out of the facility.
“We all know in Regina we do not have the capacity, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority confirmed to us they do not have the capacity to transfer these long-term resident out of here,” said Jalloh. “Why are we taking these residents out of here to take them to places we don’t have.”
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