The annual two day meeting of the Canadian Alliance for Long Term Care (CALTC) took place in Charlottetown, PEI this week. The event is the one time per year whereby all of the provincial associations meet in-person to discuss strategy and find ways to strengthen the voice of the continuing care sector in Canada. British Columbia representatives included both the CEO and the Chair of the BC Care Providers Association as well as the Executive Director and Chair of the Denominational Health Association.
“This gathering is always a great opportunity to share ideas, identify areas to collaborate and pave a path toward increasing our influence on the national scene,” says Daniel Fontaine, CEO for the BCCPA. “Last year BC hosted the event which set the stage for a number of key decisions to be made this week regarding the future direction of CALTC.”
Highlights of the CALTC meeting:
- Attendees participated in a briefing on the recent in-depth Nanos Research poll commissioned by CALTC regarding public perceptions relating to seniors care in Canada. The poll was discussed in a column written by Andre Picard and published by the Globe and Mail on Monday, August 24th.
- A decision was made to maintain increased funding for another year to ensure CALTC retains adequate staff resources to assist in the development of a new 3 year strategic plan and other identified priorities.
- For the first time-ever, two representatives from the Province of Quebec were in attendance. They have decided to become new corporate members and will determine the feasibility of establishing a continuing care association in Quebec.
- A motion was introduced and unanimously passed that CALTC reach out to the Canadian Medical Association to determine the feasibility of becoming a member of their alliance supporting the “Demand a Plan” campaign.
- The first-ever joint working session of CALTC and all the provincial industry funded workplace safety associations took place on Tuesday morning. This initiative was jointly spearheaded by SafeCare BC and the BCCPA.
- There was agreement in principle to reach out to the Yukon and determine their interest in participating in CALTC.
- Members approved a motion which empowers the Executive to draft a new Strategic Plan that would identify key policy priority areas of common interest and resources required to implement them.
- Members approved a motion requesting CALTC be officially renamed the “Canadian Association of Long-Term Care”. The word “Alliance” will be dropped in order to better reflect CALTC’s new formal status as a federally incorporated non-profit society.
- The Secretary-Treasurer presented and reviewed the 2014/15 financial statements of CALTC.
Other topic areas discussed included:
- The need to establish several working committees comprised of member staff which could focus on communications, research and policy and clinical/quality standards.
- A need to revise our by-laws to become more inclusive and support the growth in membership.
The members of CALTC also participated in a vote to select the 2015/16 executive committee. The following individuals were elected:
- Candace Chartier (OLTCA), President
- Daniel Fontaine (BCCPA), 1st Vice-President
- Tammy Leach (ACCA), 2nd Vice-President
- Jan Legros (LTCCAM), Secretary-Treasurer
“It was great to see industry leaders gather and actively commit to find ways to strengthen the sector and seniors care throughout Canada,” says Elaine Price, President of the BCCPA. “There is a real momentum with the organization now and you can’t help but think it will accomplish great things in the months and years to come.”
In addition to the annual meeting, the CALTC membership meets quarterly via conference call. Members of the executive meet on a more frequent basis throughout the year. The next annual general meeting has been set to take place in Fredericton, New Brunswick on Aug 21-23, 2016.
More in-depth analysis regarding what British Columbians told Nanos Research will be posted on the BCCPA website in the coming days.
