Nursing homes struggle with high energy prices. Clients will not be affected by the restrictions, they say wrongly
In recent years, nursing homes have fallen on really hard times. First it was covid, which fundamentally limited interpersonal contacts, which did not have a positive impact on the psyche of the elderly, now due to Putin’s war campaign in Ukraine, inflation is rising and energy prices are also flying up. It is necessary to deal with all this in such a way that they primarily ensure comfort and the necessary care for their clients, but they also need economically.
Save, but maintain comfort
“We lower the temperature in parts of the building where it will not affect our clients, so for example in the corridors. And, of course, we also save energy in other ways,” Martin Benda, director of the Nová služenice Home for the Elderly, tells Blesk. At the same time he revealed that for example his payments at Pražská energetika increased by 237% compared to the first year.
Eva Kalhousová, director of Eliška Purkyňová’s Home for the Elderly, also tries to save in a similar way. “Savings can only be made by replacing lighting sources with energy-saving ones, by replacing energy-efficient appliances or adjusting the heating curves according to the climatic conditions,” he says. In the future, I plan to use alternative energy sources in my home, but this step is still only in the preparation phase.
“Our founder is the Prague municipality abI was assured that homes are among the priorities and certainly no one will turn off the heating for us. In this context, we raised the price of food a little, but not fundamentally,” added the director.
The municipality is counting on support
Spokesman Tadeáš Provazník also confirmed that the municipality is counting on supporting homes for the elderly. “Due to the increase in energy prices, the budget of the capital city as was adjusted based on the requirements social facilities were sent money to deal with higher energy prices and advances. Since the organization pays the energy costs in advance and the income statement with a certain time delay, we continue to monitor the situation and are ready to discuss it again with the directors of these organizations,” said Blesku.
“In general, it can be said that we are not only the social facilities established by the assignment called for cost-saving measures, they are also part of the press, which was approved by the city council at the beginning of October. At the same time, we have no information that at the moment some city companies will face financial problems due to the growth of energy, but in any case, we are ready to provide the necessary help so that the companies will endure this period and we will definitely not leave them without support. At the moment, the budget for 2023 is also being prepared, in which the large energy costs will be taken into account both for the operation of the city and our organizations,” concluded Provazník.
Homes for the elderly struggle with high energy prices. The Prague municipality promises to help with the payments
Author: Freepik