By Michael Gorman
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Nursing homes in Yarmouth County and around Nova Scotia will be watching their money a little closer now that they must deal with a minor decrease in operational funding from the province.
The board of directors for Tidal View Manor recently wrote to Minister of Health Maureen MacDonald questioning the reduction in the operating budgets of nursing homes around the province by 0.43 per cent.
Sandra Boudreau, Tidal View’s administrator, said the decision by the province, which was brought to their attention earlier this spring, came as a surprise.
“We were a little concerned that we had never seen a reduction before, as we recall,” she said.
Boudreau said they would meet with staff in the near future to discuss possible ways to cut costs.
“It could be from changing the type of supplies we buy to a less expensive item or it could be by trying to cut back on the amounts we purchase.”
Rick Atkinson, administrator at Villa St. Joseph-du Lac said they would have to tighten their belts and look at what they buy and how much of it they buy.
“We just have to be a lot more careful in how we spend and really choose and pick what we need to allocate those funds,” said Atkinson.
Part of the confusion seems to be about how the government reached the decision.
Sherri Aikenhead, director of communications for the province’s Department of Health, said the number is the result of the decrease in the consumer price index (CPI).
Because the province uses the CPI to dictate what direction to take with regards to continuing care budgets, and last year the CPI decreased by one per cent, that is reflected by the 0.43 per cent decrease. Were the CPI to have increased, that, too, would have been reflected in the continuing care budget.
“Last year the CPI went down one per cent, not up,” said Aikenhead. “So, as a result, for the operations of the nursing homes it was reduced by 0.43 per cent, which corresponds to an amount that is about half of what the CPI went down.”
Aikenhead said that when the CPI goes up, nursing homes see an increase by about half.
“So if the consumer price index went up then that would be reflected for next year.”
All of this being said, Aikenhead said they don’t look at the adjustment as a decrease in funding. If inflation is going down, the assumption is service providers for long-term care are spending less for various services.
“We don’t consider that a budget reduction,” she said. “We consider it a correction to reflect CPI.”
This, however, is where there seems to be a difference of opinion.
Boudreau said the decrease on its own doesn’t seem like that much to deal with, but when it’s paired with the two-per cent HST increase and increases in the cost of supplies and services, it quickly becomes something to monitor.
“By the HST going up two per cent that’s on everything we buy,” she said. “Electricity is going up . . . In general, most things go up.”
Tidal View, for example, is facing a 1.4 per cent increase in its raw foods cost and a 1.9 per cent increase for its laundry services.
Asked about the impact of the HST increase on facilities, Aikenhead said there is no particular protocols for dealing with the increase.
“All agencies and departments are expected to work within their current budgets.”
