Wednesday, April 6, 2022 Vol. 45, No. 14
Your LOCAL Paper
Irma to celebrate 100 years with the first consolidated high school in Alberta Patricia Harcourt Editor
A celebration is taking place this coming Friday as the community of Irma marks a major milestone. It’s been 100 years since the first consolidated rural high school in Alberta was opened - and that was in Irma in 1921. The years will hold many memories for people to share, as everyone gathers in the new Irma School gymnasium Friday night for an evening of reminiscing. They will be gathering in a brand new school built recently to accommodate more students, a sign this school isn’t going anywhere, and the support for the school is huge. The new school’s grand opening took place in November 2019 and retired teacher Dinny Lovig read out the memories of the school over the years. The former school has stood since 1950 before finally getting a modern replacement building. And there were other buildings housing the students previous to that time. But the spirit of Irma School will endure within this new building, carrying on with the new classes and community centre housed within it that ensures the participation of the local people. And that is sure to be a big part of the celebration of the school’s centenary this coming April 8.
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‘Transformational change’ to continuing care Patricia Harcourt Editor
The province’s intended changes to continuing care are causing concern locally. Bill 11, the Continuing Care Act, will place all authority for the continuing care system under one umbrella. Currently, many different pieces of legislation govern various aspects of care for seniors in publicly funded facilities, including licensing, accommodations, and delivery. Health Minister Jason Copping said this piece of “contemporary legislation,” would “improve the quality of life for Albertans who are in continuing care.” This will be done, he says, through strengthening of accountability and transparency. It will also, according to Copping, “better coordinate and align care and services across the whole system.” The province is also giving seniors more accommodation by creating 1,515 spaces for this year, and investing $3.7 billion. “Alberta would be the only Canadian jurisdiction with one overarching piece of legislation for its entire continuing care system,” he said. He also said that the provincial budget “supports a major expansion in continuing care, to give our seniors better access to the spaces they need.” However Beaver Foundation Chair Gene Hrabec, who oversees these publicly funded seniors’ facilities in Beaver County, expressed concerns about the proposed legislation. “Beaver Foundation has requested a meeting with the minister a couple of times with no success,” he said. ‘In my opinion, our housing body, much like most of rural Alberta, are run very efficiently. “Having heard the justification for the change does not necessarily take all the rural Alberta issues into account,” he said. “We have voiced our concerns at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta conference a couple of weeks ago. The minister indicated there needed to be a clearer clarification on the matter.” However, with Hrabec’s attempts to meet with Copping unrealized this clarification remains unclear. The province’s recommendations came after a comprehensive review of Alberta’s facility-based continuing care system. Also included were lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic the last couple of years. Copping’s announcement stated that one “overarching piece of legislation” is intended to “start a major, transformational change to existing policy and practice.” As well as streamlining legislation to improve transparency and accountability, the act will “enable a person-centred, flexible and innovative system of care.”
Consistency and alignment for requirements in operating facilities is another goal, along with addressing gaps to better monitor and enforce legislation. This includes a financial penalty to administrations found to be operating improperly, and sets the rules for inspections of all continuing care services to ensure compliance. Meanwhile, Hrabec said that “there are so many aspects of the regulation changes and consequences to review. “The most critical change that I struggle with is ‘management body operation’ and administration that deal with board competencies,” he said. But Hrabec added: “I believe that a lot of the changes will be positive and they were taking most of the information. But unfortunately, when they are combined…unintended consequences raise their ugly head.” He expects to get more information when Copping addresses the ASCHA Conference, or Alberta Seniors Communities and Housing Association, held April 1113 in Calgary. There appears to be a lot of information to digest as the Continuing Care Act promises to be just the first stage in the new legislative agenda on the subject. The province states that “once the full legislative framework is in place, implementation will begin as soon as a year from now when the act will come into force. It is at that time that existing legislation would be repealed. Hrabec said the foundation “will continue to follow up over the next month and possibly have more information.” And he expressed confidence in the operations of the facilities in Beaver County. “Beaver Foundation has a very good working relationship with our Housing Authority as well as AHS Management and Home Care specialists,” he said. Another announcement last week concerned the expansion of the directory which lists the facilities available in the province for seniors to find accommodation. The expansion of the Continuing Care Facility Directory allows persons to make better informed decisions, said the announcement. It helps by having “a larger range of continuing care homes at their fingertips,” which can be found in the expanded directory. “Combining information about continuing care facilities into one web application will complement the increased spaces by making it easier to find the right facility, for yourself or a loved one,” said Copping.