Province dedicates a minister to oversee seniors, long-term care spending
Change won't add funding but will give more 'visibility' to issues facing seniors, minister says
The responsibility and budget for New Brunswick seniors and long-term care will now fall under a dedicated seniors minister, the province announced Wednesday.
It's being touted by the province as a stronger commitment to seniors.
But it won't come with additional funding or staff.
Some say it doesn't go far enough and are calling for a dedicated department, while others believe the move will bring a necessary, greater focus on a long-term care system in crisis.
The $859-million seniors and long-term care budget has been the purview of Social Development Minister Cindy Miles, who is also responsible for children and youth in care, and homelessness, disability and social assistance programs.
Despite that, Lyne Chantal Boudreau had been named minister responsible for seniors in Premier Susan Holt's cabinet, a position that didn't have any funding attached.
Now Boudreau is minister of seniors, a title change that gives her oversight of the seniors budget and staffing.
"This change reflects our government's commitment to really support seniors across the province," Boudreau said in an interview.
She believes it's important to "amplify the voices of seniors" and said the move will help her do that.
But Boudreau didn't identify any new policy or legislative goals she hopes to meet while in the position.
Calls for department
Richard Losier, CEO of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, has been advocating a department dedicated to seniors and long-term care, alongside a coalition of others in the sector.
Although Wednesday's announcement stops short of that, Losier welcomed it as a step in the right direction.
"We still believe that there should be a department for seniors and long-term care in New Brunswick, especially in our situation," he said.
But Losier said this is an idea Holt had poured cold water on in previous meetings.
Progressive Conservative Margaret Johnson, the seniors and social development critic, also wants to see Holt follow through on a dedicated department for seniors.
"Otherwise it just looks like this announcement was made to quell the increasing attention that it’s getting in the media, from seniors in the province," Johnson said.
This month Holt's government has had to answer to criticism over a Fredericton hospital admitting patients to an ambulance bay without running water or bathrooms.
It was a response to overcrowding, the health authority said, as a little over a third of patients in hospital beds were waiting to move into long-term care.
Jan Seely, New Brunswick Special Care Home Association president, believes the issues plaguing the health-care system won't be solved until the province improves its approach with seniors.
She is optimistic that having a minister for seniors will help government focus on the issue.
"[In Social Development] you've got children, you've got youth in trouble, you've got social assistance, you've got long-term care, you've got seniors, you've got all of these things," Seely said.
"You've got 10 fires to put out, and you've only got one hose."
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