At Kindred Home Care, we were deeply appreciative of the recent 2023-24 Budget announcement from the Government of New Brunswick’s (GNB) Department of Social Development. By increasing funding for personal support worker wages and home support agency operating costs, GNB is demonstrating that they are listening to the concerns brought forward by the Home Support Services (HSS) sector.
Recognizing the need to urgently address our sector’s challenges, Kindred has joined forces with other HSS partners and stakeholders to work closely with GNB. Together, we’re identifying and enacting solutions to address labour shortages as well as rising operational costs.
We are encouraged by this investment to create sustainable conditions, ensuring seniors have access to the variety of long-term care services they need. This shows GNB recognizes the essential services that caregivers and home support organizations provide in our communities.
As the largest private home care company in New Brunswick with nearly 1,200 clients province-wide, Kindred is committed to helping seniors age safely in place, which reduces the need for institutionalized and hospitalized care, and the broader strain on our health care system. A study on New Brunswick’s HSS sector conducted by Jupia Consultants in 2021 found that as many as 14 out of 100 seniors in long-term care facilities could be cared for at home.
As New Brunswick’s population continues to age quickly, the HSS sector has a vital role to play. Statistics Canada data shows seniors accounted for 22.8% of New Brunswickers in 2021 and this number is expected to grow to more than 30% by 2038.
The increased funding for caregiver wages announced in the budget will help Kindred and other organizations recruit and retain more trained caregivers to meet this growing demand for home care in the years ahead. Kindred’s 900+ staff work hard to take care of New Brunswick seniors, and we are thrilled to see our dedicated caregivers recognized with wages that are much more closely aligned with other provinces.
We want to express our sincere thanks to our industry partners for working together to ensure this sector’s needs are being met – not just for the benefit of our organizations, but for the thousands of clients we collectively serve across the province.
We are grateful to see that the HSS sector’s voice is being heard and action is being taken with this latest announcement. We look forward to continuing to work with partners across our sector and at GNB, to ensure seniors continue to receive the essential services they need to live healthy, happy lives on their terms.
