Bill Fraser pledges Miramichi nursing home solution

A Liberal cabinet minister says he won't rest until there's a solution to what he calls a nursing home "crisis" in Miramichi.

But it's a promise that people in the community have been hearing for years, and that has been caught up in partisan politics and the quick turnover of one-term governments.

Both of the city's nursing homes are aging, and oneMount St. Josephhas faced water and temperature problems in recent years.

The local fire chief also warned of a "catastrophic" situation if there were ever a serious fire at the home.

Local Liberal MLA Bill Fraser, who repeatedly demanded a replacement nursing home when he was in Opposition, is now a cabinet minister.

He's facing the same pressure he was applying to David Alward's Progressive Conservative government as recently as early last year.

As I told people in the community, I won't stop until we do find a solution, because this is my number one priority I'm confident we will find a solution, and we're going to continue to work until we get that solution in place.- Bill Fraser, MiramichiMLA

"The reality right now is Minister Fraser is in the driver's seat," saidPC MLA Jake Stewart. "He's a minister of the crown. He's been here long enough that he should have some power and influence to deliver something for Miramichi."

Fraser, who is the tourism minister, says he was at Mount St. Joseph the morning after last September's election, and has brought Premier Brian Gallant and key ministers to look at the home first-hand.

"I've been working day and night to find a solution," he said.

A government study projects that Miramichi will need 88 new nursing home spaces by 2021.

The previous Liberal government of Shawn Graham ranked replacing Mount St. Joseph as one of its 10 top nursing-home priorities leading up to the 2010 election.

But the PC government of David Alward, elected in 2010, put the planned replacement on hold "for political reasons," Fraser says.

Instead, the Tories set aside $8.2 million for renovationswork that has run into problems and is still going on. It was supposed to be finished last year.

The PC government announced funding in 2012 for several new nursing homes around the province, but chose not to replace the Miramichi facilities.

"The renovation wasn't good for the community, it wasn't good for the province, and it wasn't good for the residents," saidFraser. "We needed a new home. That was the situation."

In 2011, Miramichi fire chief Randy MacTavish wrote in a letter to the nursing home's administrator that it would be impossible to evacuate all residents if there were a serious fire. "The results could indeed be catastrophic in a worst-case scenario," he wrote.

And over Christmas 2013, Mount St. Joseph went without hot water for more than a month.

Doctor proposes single new nursing home

A local doctor, Gerard Losier, is now proposing a large, 300-bed nursing home to replace Mount St. Joseph and the city's other aging home.

He discussed the idea at a recent public meeting that attracted about 1,000people. Last year, 11,000 people signed his petition calling for a single new nursing home.

Losier contends replacing the two existing homes with a new one is "the key to solving the problem" of people taking up space in the hospital while waiting for nursing home beds.

Nursing home care is less expensive than hospital care, he points out. "Why would you want any one patient to go to a hospital and wait there a year for a nursing home bed? It's a waste of money."

About one-third of the 147 acute-care beds at the Miramichi Regional Hospital are now occupied by alternate-care patients seniors who don't need hospital-level care but who are waiting for space in a nursing home.

Losier says the problem has become more severe in the last three or four years, to the point it is "crippling" the hospital.

"The government's trying to say diet and exercise is the way to go, but that's not going to help these people with Alzheimer's and debilitating diseases. They need a nursing home."

Losier says he believes Fraser is sincere, "but he's only one vote."

No timeline

Fraser won't commit to Losier's plan, but he told CBC News he considers the shortage of nursing home beds a "crisis" that is "very dire."

"As I told people in the community, I won't stop until we do find a solution, because this is my number one priority I'm confident we will find a solution, and we're going to continue to work until we get that solution in place."

He wouldn't commit to a timeline, though.

Stewart, whose riding includes large areas around Miramichi, says Fraser's vocal demands between 2010 and 2014 have raised expectations in the community.

"Because the minister was so loud in opposition, they're expecting it from him," Stewart said. "He doesn't like hearing it from me, but it's my job to do that."

The PC MLA says he wants to avoid being too partisan and instead is hoping to help Fraser build the political case among his fellow Liberals for a new nursing home.

"I do support him in his plight to get the new nursing home, there's no question," Stewart said. "I've got to get him thinking about it here in the house, and get his ministers thinking about it, because I've got to try to give it a little push that I can give it from an Opposition point of view."

Stewart says the flaw with the Graham Liberals' replacement plan was it would not have added to the number of nursing home spaces, while the PC plan would have.

But he admits the PC plan to renovate Mount St. Joseph "was never publicly acceptedThe public preferred the new piece of infrastructure," he said.

"I can share some of the responsibility" for that, he added.

The CEO of Mount St. Joseph and the chair of its board of directors did not respond to calls Monday from CBC News.