Fewer care home beds now than in 2016, when Manitoba government promised to build more

Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government is farther behind in its pledge to build 1,200 new personal care home beds than when it made the promise in 2016, according to numbers obtained by the Opposition.

In 2016, the Tories made anelection pledge to add1,200 beds over an eight-year period.

However, the total number of licensed beds has fallen from 9,698 in 2016 to 9,549 as of this September, according to a document obtained by the NDP through a freedom ofinformation request.

Since the 2016 pledge, the province has added more than 450 beds, but some of that progress was erodedthis year with the closureof Parkview Place, the aging downtownfacilitythat was the site of one of the province's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks.

While the PC's new-bed commitmentseems increasingly out of reach,Julie Turenne-Maynard, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Residential and Community Care Homes for the Elderly, says that doesn't mean the promise no longer holdsimportance.

"The promise still matters because the need is there," Turenne-Maynard said.

"I know that there is a huge seniors strategy that is taking place right now. They're looking at best practices worldwideon living in community, developing housing models and getting that feedback.

"But the reality iseven though we may be changing the model for long-term and continuing care, this still needs to take place, because there are always over 200 people that are waiting to get into personal care homes in Winnipeg alone."

Turenne-Maynard expects the demand to only increase as the population ages.

Promise unlikely to be kept: NDP

NDPLeader Wab Kinewaccused the governing Tories of not only breaking an election promise, but moving the numbers in the wrong direction.

"You see the PCs coming out day after day, trying to put out press releases and make announcements about health care, but who can believe them?" Kinew told reporters on Friday, after the NDP disclosed the care home bed numbersduring question period at the legislature.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon said during question period that the government's upcoming seniorsstrategy willaddress the long-term placement needs of elderly Manitobans.

She also said some health regionshave asked for other types of beds, such as spaces inbehavioural units, rather than traditional care homebeds.

"We want to be able tosupport their needs as it relates to their specific jurisdictions, and we're going to continue to work withthe regional health authorities in the days and months to come," Gordon said.

But Turenne-Maynard said going forward, "it's still long-term care" that's needed.

"We need additional infrastructure that is going to respond to that."

In a statement, the government saidit has committed $661 million for personal care homes in this year's budget and has also pledged to increase staffing at the province's homes.

Since 2016, the province has built the100-bed Tabor Homein Morden and added157 new beds at Holy Family Home in Winnipeg. As well, theBoyne Lodge in Carmanwasexpanded with 79 new bedsand 143 beds have opened at the newRest Haven Personal Care Home in Steinbach, the province said.