To be covered (i.e., all or part of the service is paid for by health care funding):
The individual must be assessed by a health professional from Alberta Health Services
AHS must verify that the services are needed and that the individual meets the eligibility requirements
AHS will then set up the services or provide options for the resident to set up their own services.
Only 20% of publicly funded continuing care services in Alberta are delivered in facilities owned or operated by Alberta Health Services (AHS). The remaining 80% of services are delivered in facilities owned and operated by contracted providers.
However, most of the decisions regarding access to publicly funded health services are made by AHS. In other words:
AHS Continuing Care Access is the main point of entry to get assessed for publicly funded home care or facility-based continuing care services.
AHS manages the matching of individuals needing care with the available spaces in the system. AHS also manages which individuals are placed in spaces operated by contracted providers.
Individuals can’t go directly to a continuing care home to request assessment for admission. All requests for publicly funded care must go through AHS Continuing Care Access, which is a central intake process.
Individuals seeking care in a private pay facility are able to approach the site directly for admission.
Related content
Learn more about continuing care in Alberta.
CHAA's research on accommodation expenses
Rising food costs, COVID-19, and information technology shifts … how has the cost structure for continuing care changed in the past two years?
Thriving in place
Most residents in continuing care develop strong friendships and roots among the familiar faces and routines in their care home. Our goal is always to maintain a stable and consistent residence for those needing care.
Moving up sometimes means moving out
Many Albertans are surprised to learn that residents sometimes must move to another facility as their care needs increase. Our operators are working hard to change the system policies and capacity issues that are the source of this challenge.