One of the main focuses of the province’s review of long-term care and personal care homes will be spousal separation, according to the health minister.

The opposition parties have long been asking government to address the issue, which has seen senior couples forced to live apart when moving in to such facilities. Minister Tom Osborne calls that an important issue that he wants to resolve.

Osborne’s parents are in their 80s and have been married for 60 years. He says he wouldn’t be able to live with having them separated due to one being in long-term care. Osborne says he can’t imagine the frustration felt by spouses who are separated, and their families who have to watch them go through it.

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jim Dinn and PC Health Critic Paul Dinn are glad that a review of long term care is underway, but are concerned that it took this long to get going.

“It’s about time, and it’s past time,” asserts Jim Dinn, who notes that the process needs to move along quickly.

Paul Dinn calls it “heartbreaking” that it took people calling out for help for government to react. He doesn’t understand why it took so long for government to get the ball rolling, and won’t be happy until he sees the final product.