It has been over 40 days since the initiation of the Points West Living lockout, and still staff of the live-in care facility is continuing their fight.
At the Jan. 24 council meeting, the City of Cold Lake staff welcomed Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) representatives and staff of Points West Living Cold Lake, as they shared what they have experienced both prior to the lockout and during.
The issue started about two years ago, when staff approached Points West regarding training issues and a lack of workers. Since then, negotiations have continued, with some of the most recent discussions including a Dispute Inquiry Board delegated by the provincial government in hopes of solving the quarrel. Instead, when negotiations failed, staff were locked out and substitutions brought in for the remainder of the negotiation period.
The group of AUPE representatives and Points West Living workers were hoping to gain council's support as they move forward.
“What we want is for Points West to follow through on the promises they make to the residents when they moved into the building. Right now, we are so under staffed, our staff are so under trained, and our scheduling is really being messed with so we can't guarantee the seniors that they are going to be cared for by the staff that they have gotten to know the best,” said Amanda Whillans, vice-chair of 47-10 AUPE, Points West employee.
Currently, there is no legislation in place requiring Points West Living, which is a privately owned company, to staff the facility at a certain level.
Mayor Craig Copeland said he believes there should be a standard across the board for these types of facilities, whether they are publicly funded or privately owned. Unfortunately, Copeland noted council has to tread lightly moving forward because “this isn't our sandbox.”
The city has been working to get the government involved, and has agreed to do what they can to get the government to come in and “take a bigger look.”
Whillans continued that unfortunately, due to lack of staff, healthcare aids (HCA) and other support staff are taking on irregular duties, such as feeding residents, cleaning and doing laundry.
In some cases, during a night shift, there will be one LPN and one HCA, so in the case of an emergency getting to a resident can prove difficult.
Whillans said, “HCAs are doing four jobs in one. If a resident requires assistance, their wait time is going to go up even if it is an emergency, because we have so few staff and so many residents. The ratios are just horrendous.”
Points West Living is a privately owned facility, but is funded through Alberta Health Services.
“It is our tax dollars that fund these places… (Points West) are given grants to build these buildings, which is our tax dollars, and they are being funded by AHS,” said Liane Dumais, secretary of 47-10 AUPE and Points West Cold Lake staff member. “They get additional funding for equipment and care per person. They are making a lot of money off of our tax dollars and there is no transparency whatsoever.”
Dumais added this doesn't include the cost each resident pays per bed, or rent, which varies depending on their care needs.
However, due to the lack of staffing and training, patients' needs are not always met. This is one of the reasons why the staff of Points West said they are braving bitter cold temperatures, hoping to get the attention of anyone who will listen to the conditions some of the seniors are living in.
“There is a significant gap between the care that is being provided by the employer and the care that is needed for the residents,” added Dumais.
“Points West believes that only the LPN needs to be certified, which means if I am in a resident room doing patient care, and somebody goes down, that I am to leave that patient and neglect them to go to another,” noted Alison Anstruther, LPN at Points West Living.
Currently there are 13 residents living in the independent living units, 14 patients are in dementia care, designated supported living (DSL) level three has about 10 to 12 patients throughout the facility, there are 20 DSL level four patients, and a handful of spouses.
Live-in care facilities undergo inspections by Alberta Health Services to determine whether or not they are meeting the requirements of staffing, level of care and cleanliness.
Over the past five weeks, staff and union representatives told council that Points West has had four inspections take place, and each time the facility has been found noncompliant.
AUPE vice-president Mike Dempsey said, “We need a solid, collective agreement to address all of these issues, not just to make the lives of the staff who work their more bearable, but to make the lives of the people who live there good quality lives. These are the people after all who built this province, and here we have a standard that drives these folks to tears.”
