A 91-year-old Saskatoon man died in a Saskatoon care home just weeks after he was admitted, and the Official Opposition is calling for more oversight and funding. Shadow Minister for Seniors, Keith Jorgenson, explains that following complications from a urinary tract infection, Erwin Lukan was moved into a Saskatoon care home on July 17th of 2023. He passed away less than three weeks later, on August 6th.

Despite having a catheter, Lukan’s daughters, Colleen Lukan and Donna Fiddler, say it wasn’t maintained because the only certified caregiver for catheters was out of the province. According to the family, the staff were unaware and no one assisted with its maintenance for weeks. Lukan’s daughters believe that because his catheter hadn’t been maintained, and their father developed a severe infection, which is what led to his hospitalization and death. Jorgenson notes that it had been over three years since the facility had been inspected.

Seniors Minister Lori Carr responded that the government’s priority is to ensure seniors have safe, reliable, high quality care. She said during Question Period, “Mr. Speaker, there is a process in place for us to do these reviews of all of the long term care facilities that we have throughout the province. I am aware that we are catching up on all of those.” She added that the budget introduced last week has more funds allocated for seniors’ care.