Care for Seniors Nova Scotia's Priority

Giving seniors more support will be Nova Scotia's priority during this week's premiers' meeting in Toronto, Health Minister Jane Purves said today, Jan. 22.

"Our seniors deserve the same quality of care as everybody else," said Ms. Purves. "Unfortunately, Ottawa's current definition of medicare doesn't include care for seniors, meaning the federal government contributes nothing to home care or long-term care. It's time for the federal government to join with provinces like Nova Scotia and support our plan of better care for seniors."

Last spring, in its submission to the Romanow commission, the Nova Scotia government recommended that the Canada Health Act be amended to cover health services which are currently not funded by the federal government. These services would include primary care, mental health, home care and the medically necessary portion of long-term care.

"Our government has put tens of millions of new dollars into home care and long-term care in Nova Scotia without any support from Ottawa, despite our province's high number of seniors," said Ms. Purves. "Any new funding partnership must include federal support to improve care for seniors."

Since 1999, the Nova Scotia government has made improvements to home care totalling more than $30 million. In last year's budget alone, long-term care received an additional $23 million from Nova Scotia taxpayers. Yesterday, federal Health Minister Anne McLellan said that home care should be a service eligible for support under the Canada Health Act.

"Federal support for home care is a welcome and important first step," added Ms. Purves. "But Nova Scotia will continue to press Ottawa for fair treatment for all our seniors."

The premiers will meet informally tonight, Jan. 22, before meeting Jan. 23 in Toronto. Ms. Purves will represent Nova Scotia in person while Premier John Hamm will participate by telephone. A First Ministers' meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chretien is then scheduled for Feb. 4-5.