Located in Sherbrooke, the very first seniors’ home has twice as many attendants per resident in the evening and at night as in neighboring CHSLDs. Québec solidaire deplores the emergence of two classes of beneficiaries.
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“It’s so absurd that I didn’t want to believe it. But the numbers are there. In the evening, it’s one attendant for six people, while it’s one for 12 in the CHSLDs of Sherbrooke!
A better attendant-resident ratio means that the elderly who are lucky enough to end up in a seniors’ home have better services than those who fail in a CHSLD, insists the elected official.
“Is it going to be like that everywhere, in Quebec, twice as many services in the evening, at night, in seniors’ homes than in CHSLDs? Are there going to be two classes of seniors in Quebec: the VIPs who have won the lottery for seniors’ homes, then the others who are in CHSLDs and then have half as many services in the evening and at night? “, worries MP Labrie.
The Minister of Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, has promised that there will not be two classes of seniors in Quebec.
She points out that seniors’ homes come under the CISSSs and CIUSSSs, in the same way as the CHSLDs. The minister ensures that the “same mechanisms” apply to have a place in a seniors’ home or in a CHSLD and that the Sherbrooke facility is currently being adjusted.
Sonia Bélanger did not want to answer our questions in the corridor of Parliament. His spokesperson nevertheless made it clear that the staff ratio in CHSLDs and seniors’ homes are “identical” for day shifts.
“On the other hand, for the nights, it is different. Since Elders’ Homes are separate households of twelve people, it is required that there be one person in each unit. While the CHSLDs, we are talking about an average of 36 rooms on one floor. So the ratio of seniors’ homes will be higher for this reason,” said Sarah Bigras.
The latter adds that the CISSSs and CIUSSSs have the freedom to adjust the personnel on site according to periodic needs.
Minister retracts
The Minister of Seniors also had to make amends on Wednesday after declaring in the Blue Room of Parliament that she was going to renovate all CHSLDs in Quebec during her mandate.
In fact, Sonia Bélanger is committed to renovating only dilapidated CHSLDs, argued her press officer. However, the government has “no overall picture of all the CHSLDs that will be renovated,” said Ms. Bigras. We are talking about several dozen CHSLDs”.
In Quebec, there are currently 415 CHSLDs, including private-conventioned and non-conventioned facilities.