Latest news with #CindyMiles
CTV News
2 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Hospital patients to get temporary priority for long-term care in N.B.
For the next month, hospital patients waiting for a long-term care bed in New Brunswick will move to the top of the waitlist as Horizon Health Network tries to ease overcrowding at four of its regional hospitals. On Wednesday. New Brunswick's Minister of Social Development Cindy Miles approved a request Horizon Health Network made the day before to temporarily grant Horizon 'critical state admission prioritization status' at its hospitals in Fredericton, Saint John, Miramichi and Hartland. The protocol allows the health network to prioritize patients who no longer need acute care but are still in hospital — known as Alternative Level of Care (ALC) patients — and place them into long-term care once a bed is freed up. 'We do have beds available across the province,' Miles told reporters. 'The folks that are in hospital now are going to be prioritized for those beds.' Miles says the next step is making sure they don't end up in that same position. 'We want to give everyone the opportunity to be able to stay home as long as they can and not be waiting in hospital.' Horizon's hospitals in Fredericton, Saint John, Miramichi and Hartland have been operating above capacity and hospitals have been treating a record level of ALC patients at 40 per cent of its acute care beds. Horizon Health Network President and CEO Margaret Melanson said as of Wednesday, the number of ALC patients had dropped to 658 patients — down slightly from the record 667 from last week, but was still extremely high. That this is happening in July, and not when numbers typically peak, is also problematic, as hospitals need to have adequate beds in place for the upcoming flu season. 'Of these 658 patients, 368 could be discharged today if a long-term care bed were available,' said Melanson. 'This was not a decision we made lightly. However, it became clear that urgent action was required.' While the target is to see patients admitted to emergency departments moved to a bed within eight hours, Melanson says that currently, it's happening after an average of close to 20 hours. She says other patient units are overcapacity with patients in hallways, dining areas and other nontraditional spaces, calling it 'absolutely inadequate.' 'Some do not have a washroom facility,' she said. 'The patient would need to be taken to another location, and it is simply not the type of care or quality of care that is, I would say, ideal for any patient and have.' The provincial government approved a similar request from Horizon in January 2024. Back then, Melanson says Horizon was able to discharge 23 patients in Saint John and 52 in Fredericton. At the time, a new long-term care home had just opened in Fredericton, allowing the placement of more patients. Melanson says while it's difficult to say how many patients may be placed in long-term care this time, she is hopeful the numbers seen last time in Saint John — 23 patients — could be mirrored, with fewer patients in the Miramichi and Upper River Valley area. According to the province, nursing home admissions are normally done chronologically. However, during critical circumstances, the minister can, when requested by a regional health authority, prioritize admission of ALC patients waiting in hospital. When asked what the government's measure of success is in 30 days time, Miles said the measurement is going to be acute care. 'Our hospitals able to deliver the acute care that they need to be able to deliver,' Miles said. 'That's going to take some very, very collaborative ongoing conversations.' Families who understand the long wait In May 2023, Shelley Poirier's father, now 100-years-old, had a heart attack. He waited 17 months in a hospital until he was placed in a long-term care home. She said at first, her dad was okay being in hospital, but eventually it became difficult. 'We watched his mental health decline, too, right? He started to get … quite depressed,' she said. 'After such a long wait, he started to believe it was never going to happen.' According to the province, there are currently 1,093 people on the wait list for a long-term care bed in New Brunswick, with 483 people waiting in hospital. Poirier believes it's scary that the situation isn't getting any better, saying the focus shouldn't just be on hospitals and nursing homes, but the whole system. She estimates it took her father between five to six months to be assessed, noting how a neighbour is currently in hospital and finds himself in the same situation: waiting to be assessed. 'It's not just about the nursing homes and the hospitals — it's about the whole system,' she said. 'If we get more beds, where are the staff coming from?' Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick's child, youth and seniors' advocate, says the problem has been foreseeable for a while and likened the problem to a financial deficit that governments have left for the next one. 'A growing number of patients are in acute care when they really need long-term care, and it's hurting those patients,' Lamrock said. 'It's destabilizing the urgent care system and putting everybody at risk. It is going to require some drastic action.' In March 2024, Lamrock released a report investigating senior care in New Brunswick. It outlined why an overhaul is needed to ensure the safety and viability of the province's long-term care system, warning if urgent action isn't taken, the cost to people's health and the bottom line would continue to spiral. Lamrock says there are things government can do. If they're trying to find placements, they need to make short-term investments to make patients' lives better. 'Making sure families have the financial capacity to visit often, making sure that you are providing short-term help for special care homes and others who might be able to take on different levels of care, if they were properly funded,' he said. Lamrock said there's also a need to empower frontline social workers treating people in home care. 'Even if the formula says this person makes too much money or this is too expensive, ask yourself: if we don't make the home a place a person can stay, what does that cost, versus somebody showing up at the acute care or urgent care hospital?' With Files from CTV's Laura Brown
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
N.B. grants Horizon Health 30 days for nursing home placement prioritization
New Brunswick's Department of Social Development has granted Horizon Health Network 'critical state admission prioritization status.' The move means patients with no medical need for care at four regional hospitals will be bumped to the top of the list for long-term care beds for the next 30 days. Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patients at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, the Saint John Regional Hospital, the Upper River Valley Hospital in Waterville, and the Miramichi Regional Hospital will be bumped up to the top of the wait list for available beds in long-term care (LTC). According to Horizon, there are over 650 patients at their hospitals who do not need acute care but cannot be discharged as they are waiting for beds elsewhere. If more beds were readily available, the health agency says more then half of those patients would immediately be out the door. Around 40 per cent of acute care beds in Horizon facilities are take by people who have no medical reason to still be at the hospital. 'We do not want anyone to think that they are not a priority,' Social Development Minister Cindy Miles told reporters Wednesday. 'We will do all we can to support this process and moving forward as quickly as we can in the areas that we've identified, and the folks in community, we will do all we can to make sure that you're getting the support and the services that you need.' According to Social Development, nursing home admissions are normally done chronologically. Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Horizon Health Network President and CEO Margaret Melanson was pleased to hear the request was granted in a timely matter. After the initial 30 days, she says the need for prioritization status will be evaluated. 'This number is occurring in July, when we would typically see numbers peak more traditionally during the fall period,' Melanson notes. 'Therefore, in order to prepare adequately for bed availability during a flu season, for example, we needed to act now with this particular emergency order to ensure that we would have hopefully some bed capacity in planning for the fall period.' Melanson is hopeful to move around 20 people out of both the Saint John and Fredericton Hospitals, and a little less for the other two centres. The goal would still leave hundreds waiting in hospital, but officials note there are just not enough LTC beds available. To solve the issue long-term, Melanson says she will continue to collaborate with both social development and the health department. 'When we have admitted patients who are needing to be cared for in a hallway, a dining room and other nontraditional spaces, I believe we can all agree that this is not high quality care.' Speaking to CTV Atlantic ahead of the province decision, New Brunswick Nurses Union President Paula Doucet was pleased to see Horizon make the request. She says nurses are continuing to battle working in overcrowded conditions and having to treat patients outside of a typical hospital room. Doucet adds whatever decision is made to address the issue long term, all parties need to be at the table. 'It's really difficult to come up with an answer that's going to solve every problem, especially when we're in a crisis,' she says. 'But obviously involving the input from the frontline staff, multiple stakeholders and all of those different departments, I think will go a long way.' For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
People with disabilities set to receive new $200 monthly benefit
People who qualify for the new Canada Disability Benefit will begin receiving their payments this month. Haley Flaro, the executive director of Ability New Brunswick, is relieved they won't face reduced disability payments from the province as a result. Under the new benefit, eligible recipients can receive up to $200 per month or $2,400 a year. Flaro says Alberta is going to claw back from the benefits people already receive in that province. "They've decided to take it, claw it back from their social assistance benefits, which isn't going to help people move towards lifting them out of poverty," Flaro said. "It's actually going to be a way to subsidize their own social assistance system, which is really unfortunate." There was a fear that other provinces would follow Alberta's lead, but not New Brunswick says Social Development Minister Cindy Miles. "It's more important than ever that our most vulnerable residents feel secure and supported," Miles said in a release. "I want to make it clear to New Brunswickers who receive disability benefits that receiving the Canadian Disability Benefit will not reduce their payments from the department." Flaro says New Brunswick's commitment honours the spirit of what they're trying to achieve.. "It was really intended to help lift people with a disability out of poverty in New Brunswick," she said. "They're one of the two most impoverished populations, next only to single mothers." According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, 35.3 per cent of New Brunswickers are living with a disability, the second-highest rate in Canada. The national average is 27 per cent. When the federal government announced the new benefit early last year, advocates like Flaro were disappointed by the low amount. They didn't think it would make a significant difference. Flaro told CBC at the time that they were expecting something closer to $2,000 a month. Now that the program is in place and payments are set to begin, Flaro says the organization wants to work with the government to make it more generous. "It's certainly not the amount that people with disabilities were looking for, nor organizations like ours, but there's a lot of infrastructure and planning that goes into this type of benefit and it's in place now and there's nowhere to go but up," Flaro said. Even though the amount is lower than what was sought, Flaro says it will make a huge difference for people facing rising costs in housing, food and power rates. People with disabilities also face added costs for things like home support services, medications and transportation. "We're facing many crises in New Brunswick and throughout Canada," she said. "This is going to be $2,400 a year helping people address their basic needs." Flaro says the provincial government is open to talking about an income program that would pay a "living wage" to people with disabilities in need, something more like what they pressed Ottawa for in consultations last year. She says the new Canada Disability Benefit is a step in that direction. "This is a significant victory in New Brunswick," she said.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
N.B. government to spend $1.2 million to support youth in care
New Brunswick's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld The New Brunswick government is increasing the monthly financial support received by young people in the Youth Engagement and Young Adult Services program. The province announced Wednesday it would up its overall spending by nearly $1.2 million to support people aged 16 to 26 in care. That translates to a 19 per cent increase per person, or an extra $163 to $259 each month, beginning June 1. 'Every young person deserves the opportunity to succeed,' said Social Development Minister Cindy Miles in a news release. 'This investment is an intentional step to help youth and young adults thrive by giving them the support they need when they need it most – whether that's finishing their education, finding stable housing or entering the workforce.' The province says the program also provides like-skills training, mental health support and housing stability services with a goal of: reducing the number of young people relying on social assistance or experiencing homelessness increasing high school and post-secondary completion helping young people find long-term, meaningful employment 'This kind of investment is foundational for youth who have experienced care to achieve a stable transition to adulthood; it acknowledges the unique barriers they face and helps create a more equitable future,' said Melanie Doucet, director and project lead for the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates. 'Youth in and from care deserve a starting point that is equitable and above the poverty line and allows them to pursue their interests and dreams so that they can grow into thriving adults.' For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
28-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Social development minister downplays youth advocate's worries about budget cuts
Minister Cindy Miles stresses opportunity to do things differently with this budget Image | Cindy Miles - Minister of Social Development Caption: Minister of Social Development Cindy Miles said the budget for child welfare services increased by $26 million this year. (Radio-Canada) Open Image in New Tab New Brunswick's Social Development minister does not share the same fears about the province's child welfare budget as the province's child and youth advocate. Advocate Kelly Lamrock released a report on Thursday that took issue with what he calls the largest cut to the child welfare budget in decades. His report said Social Development's $208.3-million budget for this year falls short of the $231.9 million spent on those same child welfare services last year. But Minister Cindy Miles doesn't agree that the budget has been cut. "Last year was budgeted $181 million, and this year was budgeted $208 million, so up $26 million," Miles said Monday during an interview with Information Morning Fredericton. While that is the case, Lamrock said last week that because the actual cost came in higher than the estimate last year, the department is effectively being asked to reduce its spending on services to children in care by $23 million. He also said since the budget speech also pledged $23.6 million for new wage increases and services, he said, existing services will be in a $46.6-million shortfall. When asked about that, Miles didn't directly address the accusation. "What I'm saying is that we haven't had a chance to sit down with the advocate to really go through what are the opportunities that are existing now with this budget and with the Child and Youth Well-Being Act," she said when asked if she thought Lamrock's calculations were incorrect "I believe Mr. Lamrock said that he had gone back to [the] finance board to talk to them, but they wouldn't have those breakdowns of what moving forward looks like," she said. "So I look forward to the opportunity coming up in the next few months to really sit down with the advocate's office." Miles said the budget was reflective of "wanting to do things differently and putting youth at the centre of everything that we do." In Lamrock's report, he recommended that the departments of Finance and Social Development reconsider the funding cuts. Miles said right now, that's not on the table. "We'll go back with the social development team and look at all the recommendations that the advocate has made," she said. "But this budget, we can really do things differently, and we need to do things differently."
