The Wales Home let out a massive cry for help on Wednesday morning. Faced with $1.7 million in operating deficits for its long term care facility (CHSLD) that must be repaid by the end of the current fiscal year and a total lack of funding from the Provincial government, Executive Director Brendalee Piironen described the local Anglophone institution as being at a crossroads in its existence.
“The CHSLD Wales Inc. has been operating with a deficit since its inception five years ago and has accumulated a shortfall of more than $1.7 million over that time,” Piironen said, recalling that the long term care facility was split into a separate legal entity in 2009 at the demand of the Provincial Government. “Without Government support, the CHSLD Wales Inc. will no longer be able to retain the high level of standards that it currently maintains and wishes to preserve for many years to come.”
Speaking before residents, members of the board of directors, and a small gathering of local media, Piironen denounced the situation of the home as unbalanced with regard to other facilities in the province. She argued that the home is expected to meet the same standards as subsidized homes but is not afforded the same support, do the detriment of its users and , ultimately, the wider Anglophone community
“The financial contribution for accommodation in a public facility is the amount the government charges to adults who are accommodated in Québec healthcare facilities. It addresses the concern that accommodated adults be treated equally to persons living at home,” the executive director said, quoting from the website of Quebec’s healthcare agency, the Regie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). “The CHSLD Wales Inc. qualifies as one of Quebec’s healthcare facilities but its residents clearly do not appear to be treated equally.”
Read the full story in Thursday’s Record
