An early funding boost for adult residential facilities in New Brunswick.
A permanent increase of $10 a day set to start on January 1st is already in place and is now retroactive to October 1st.
Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard explained why the increase was moved up.
“We decided to advance the implementation date because of the inflationary pressures facing this vital sector,” said Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard. “Adult residential facilities play a key role in providing essential services to 7,000 seniors and adults with a disability. Thanks to these facilities, residents get the care they need in their own communities, thus avoiding more costly services such as nursing home placements and hospitalization.
With the January 1st start date, the increase would have meant an annual boost in funding of $27 million.
The earlier implementation date of October 1st brings the overall cost to $33.8 million.
Jan Seely is the president of the New Brunswick Special Care Home Association
“Owners of adult residential facilities are pleased to see the value of their important services being recognized and supported by the provincial government. Our members are dedicated to providing quality services to our residents, but they are not immune to the rising costs of food, supplies and many other things. This added support will help to address some of the pressure,” Seely said.
New Brunswick has about 475 adult residential facilities providing care and services to around 7,000 residents.
In a news release, the province provided a breakdown:
-Special care homes provide care to about 4,000 seniors as well as to 1,863 adults with disabilities.
-Memory care and generalist care homes provide care to 532 people.
-Community residences provide care to about 595 people, the majority of whom are adults with a disability.
In its release, the province said the long-term care system in New Brunswick offers a continuum of support to people who can no longer live safely in their own homes.
Special care, memory care and generalist care homes and community residences provide varying levels of service to clients. Care and supervision in these types of facilities is provided primarily by personal support workers or human service counsellors.
Nursing homes provide care to people who benefit from access to 24-hour nursing care.
Per diems differ for each type of facility.
Once the increases are fully implemented, the per diem will vary between $100.86 and $163.91, depending upon the level of care provided to the resident.
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