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Local MLA calls for apology for seniors' food

Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 03:00 am | By Victoria Paterson

Innisfail’s MLA is calling for an apology to seniors after the health minister announced home-cooking would return to 73 long-term care facilities across the province.

Kerry Towle, MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, is the seniors critic for the Wildrose Alliance.

“It is shocking that it took months of Wildrose and others flagging the issue before Minister (Fred) Horne and his government even recognized this as a problem,” Towle said in a press release from July 26.

Health Minister Fred Horne announced on July 26 that Alberta Health Services has been directed to stop serving pre-cooked meals prepared off site to seniors housed in the long-term care facilities. The change is to be in effect by December 2012.

“We’ve heard what residents and their families have said about the quality of food in our long-term care facilities and today, we are taking action to improve that,” Horne said in a press release from July 26.

The move comes after public pressure was applied by the official opposition and others, including a documentary filmed by the Alberta Union of Public Employees about the food quality and the fight for the return of food prepared on site in Claresholm.

Towle said that the plans to switch back to on-site cooking only fixes a small portion of problems about the food service in care facilities across the province.

“We have heard there are many seniors across Alberta that are still being asked to eat this degrading food,” Towle said. “The government should follow up with their announcement today and investigate which other facilities in the province are serving this food and put an end to this practice.”

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