November 19, 2020

Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg MB – The Pallister PCs have voted against an NDP motion in the Legislature to protect seniors by immediately taking over management at of Revera long term care homes, including Maples and Parkview Place.

The NDP introduced a motion in the House today that called on the province to takeover Revera-operated care homes. Seniors in care homes have been overwhelmed by the second wave of the pandemic, but outbreaks at Revera’s for-profit facilities have been the deadliest. To date, a total of 65 seniors have died at Parkview Place and Maples Personal Care Home.

“It’s no surprise that our Personal Care Homes are vulnerable to COVID-19 and yet the government failed to develop a plan over the summer to protect PCH residents in Phase 2 of the pandemic,” said Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew. “Today we gave the government a chance to do right by our seniors by taking over the Revera for-profit Care Homes that need help but they refused. Manitoba seniors and their families deserve a government that steps up to take care of them."

“Today, the Pallister PCs made it clear that they will continue to stand by as seniors in for-profit care homes die from this virus,” said Uzoma Asagwara, NDP Healthcare critic. “Health officials have confirmed that Revera failed to protect residents of all ages living in their facilities, or even provide basic quality care, yet the Pallister government is refusing to step in. Their inaction could lead to more outbreaks and deaths at care homes. The PCs had an opportunity to the right thing and they ignored it.”

Taking over operations at Revera facilities would allow the government to ensure the same standards of care and COVID protocols are met across the province. It would also allow the province to draw on all the resources available to them, including hiring more long term care nurses and bolstering staff with trained medics from the Canadian Armed Forces. And this move would force the Health Minister to take responsibility for the conditions at Revera Homes instead of passing the blame to private management.

In addition to urging the province to take over all Revera Care Homes the NDP are also calling on the Health Minister to:

· Mandate monthly in-person inspections at all PCHs and make the results public;

· Follow Ontario’s lead by conducting asymptomatic testing of residents;

· Appoint a dedicated staff person to support staff by providing PPE training and monitoring;

· Train and hire more nurses to ensure residents get the best quality care; and

· Appoint a Senior’s Advocate to provide recommendations and hold the government accountable for their treatment of seniors.