Premier Jason Kenney. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Province announces support for continuing care workers

Apr 20, 2020 | 4:38 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Government of Alberta is taking steps to help out workers in continuing care centres and boost the number of people working in them.

These facilities, especially ones in Calgary and Edmonton, have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outbreaks have been reported at 29 continuing care centres in the province.

In these facilities, 330 people have tested positive for the virus and 34 have died.

Supports include additional funding to allow for:

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• Increased health-care aide staffing levels.
• A wage top-up of an additional $2 per hour for health-care aides.
• Up to 1,000 paid student practicum positions to fast-track certification and get more staff into our continuing care facilities.

In addition, $24.5 million is being advanced to operators to help address immediate cost pressures due to COVID-19.

“Health-care aides are integral to the well-being of residents – and they play a critical role across the health-care system,” says Health Minister Tyler Shandro. “We cannot overlook their contribution, and we must not lose sight of how the pressures they face can directly impact the functioning of entire facilities. We are confident that these measures will make a difference not only to health-care aides, but to the residents of these facilities who deserve quality and compassionate care.”

Continuing care facilities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why strong restrictions are in place to address the spread of the virus. These restrictions are necessary to help protect lives, but they also place financial and emotional burdens on staff, residents and operators.

Increased funding will help facilities hire about 1,000 additional full-time staff so they can adequately prevent infections and respond to outbreaks. The addition of 1,000 practicum students will also help deal with staffing shortages across the system. A wage supplement will help compensate health-care aides at contracted sites for the extra work necessary during this pandemic. It will also help alleviate the financial burden for those who normally work at several sites, but are now restricted to one site.

These new measures are estimated to cost an additional $7.3 million per month and are specific support for the pandemic period.

– From the Government of Alberta