A letter-writing campaign is leading an effort to expand and rebuild the aging Jubilee Home in Lloydminster.
Read more: Seniors re-imagine Jubilee Home
Graham Brown, president of the Lloydminster Concerned Citizens for Seniors Care Society, presented to Lloyd council looking to garner support for the campaign. He was accompanied by a large group of seniors, packing council chambers.
At the meeting on May 12, he said they already had 867 letters signed. The plan is to take the letters to the Saskatchewan legislature to draw attention to the issue.
Brown estimates they’ll have more than 1,000 letters signed when they take it to the legislature.
The Jubilee Home was originally constructed in 1985 and Lloydminster has seen some booms in population since then. In 1985, Lloyd had a population of 17,336 and in 2021, the time of the last census, there was a population of 31,582.
With Lloydminster being a border city, many of the residents of Saskatchewan want to stay in the province when they end up in long-term care. There are currently only 50 beds available in the Jubilee Home.
On the Alberta side, there’s a total of 214 long-term care beds.
When the Saskatchewan government previously visited, they didn’t want to invest in the aging building.
“A year ago, the Saskatchewan health minister came to Lloydminster. After touring the Jubilee Home, they stated they were not interested in spending any money on that old building,” said Brown.
That sentiment was the catalyst to start the new project.
“So, the replacement and expansion of the Jubilee Home project was born,” he said.
The Jubilee Home replacement includes 20 specialty LTC spaces for patients with complex medical needs, 20 palliative care spaces, 20 respite care spaces, 20 transition spaces for patients moving from hospital to long-term care and 50 LTC spaces, including 25 dementia-care spaces.
Brown is on a mission to garner support for the letter-writing campaign to get the new home built.
“We will be asking all mayors, reeves and councils to send a letter to Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan minister of health, with copies going to Jim Reiter, Saskatchewan minister of finance, and Premier Scott Moe,” said Brown.
On top of the letters, petitions are being organized.
“We also will be organizing a number of petitions throughout the region for people to sign,” said Brown.
He hopes to make the home a priority.
“We need to demand that the Saskatchewan government make the jubilee home replacement and expansion project a provincial priority now,” said Brown.
Coun. Justin Vance asked for some details surrounding the Jubilee Home Project.
“Our proposal is for a whole different facility out on a new piece of land,” explained Brown.
Coun. Michele Charles Gustafson sees the potential to garner support from a younger generation.
“I know this is concerning seniors, but there is real potential in activating young people or youth who have parents or grandparents that are either needing the service, will need the service, and they’re going to watch their grandparent leave Lloydminster,” she said. “There’s a real opportunity to engage that generation that age group who will be afraid of those things happening.”
The location of the new building is something Coun. David Lopez inquired about.
“What we’ve heard is that there’s a parcel of land across from the front door of the hospital that Cenovus and Colleen Young have had discussions on,” said Brown.
Brown is out in the community getting letters signed, and the next major event will be a barbecue on June 12.
Read more: Column: Jubilee advocacy
