Continuing Care Letter to Mr. Stelmach

March 14, 2008

213 Village Close,
Sherwood Park, Alberta
T8A 4Y2

Premier Ed Stelmach
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 – 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6

Dear Premier Stelmach,

Congratulations on your election results. I am hopeful that your initial commitments about listening to Albertans and quality of life for Alberta’s seniors will prove to be promises kept in the very near future.

I was pleased to meet you at the Calder Seniors’ Drop-in Centre on February 28, 2008, when I spoke with you about a letter Ms. Bev McKay and I had written to you over a year ago, with a request to meet with you concerning continuing care centres.

I am also the lead author of the two recent reports from the Seniors’ Action and Liaison Team (SALT), which I had included with the above letter.

The SALT Brief on Continuing Care 2008 (I have enclosed a copy for your convenience) was released at a media conference on February 20, 2008, where a senior couple, caring for an elderly friend whose health is failing, presented their personal story of the failures of the system to provide them with essential home care and respite supports during the conference.

The SALT brief documents the circumstances of seniors in a general context in the Alberta’s Elders Are Worried! report; our review confirms our own and other reported concerns about the accessibility, quality, and affordability of long term care and support for vulnerable seniors and other citizens. The second report, The Promises and The Reality discusses the commitments made for long term care, articulated in the Broda reports and subsequent policies.

At its recent meeting, the members of the Seniors’ Action and Liaison Team (SALT) directed me to write to you to request a meeting with you to discuss these concerns. I would be accompanied by a small group of SALT members who are knowledgeable about the continuing care system in our Province.

The opportunity to discuss these concerns and possible solutions with you would be much appreciated. With me will be a small group of SALT members who assisted with the briefs and are knowledgeable about the Long Term Care system in our Province.

I will be in contact with your appointments secretary to arrange the meeting with you.

Yours sincerely,




Carol Wodak, on behalf of the Seniors’ Action and Liaison Team