Alberta care homes fight to prevent release of financial reports
A continuing care operator is fighting a recent ruling by Alberta’s information czar that would reveal how hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars are spent each year at the province’s nursing homes and supportive living facilities. A continuing care operator is fighting a recent ruling by Alberta’s information czar that would reveal how hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars are spent each year at the province’s nursing homes and supportive living facilities. Shepherd’s Care Foundation is asking the courts to overturn a decision by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ordering the release of the complete annual financial returns it and other operators file with Alberta’s health authority. In a notice seeking judicial review, the Edmonton-based organization says making the returns public under the province’s freedom of information legislation would cause significant harm to its business and labour relations interests. Filed as a condition of the facility’s contract with Alberta Health Services, the returns show the amounts a facility derives each year from the public purse and from resident fees. The document also details how much of that money is spent on care, food and administration and whether any surplus or profit is left over at the end of 12 months. The OIPC ruling stems from requests filed with AHS by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees several years ago for the returns of 15 continuing care operators with which it was involved in collective bargaining on behalf of workers.