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Seniors at Nanaimo facility face uncertain future as debate rages over care model

Oct 4, 2016 | 5:30 PM

NANAIMO — Concerns surrounding major changes at a Nanaimo residential care home are just part of a much larger issue in B.C., according to an advocate.

As of Sept. 30 all of the roughly 140 employees at Wexford Creek were fired and a third party, SimpeQ Care, took over care delivery at the facility. Vancouver-based Park Place Seniors Living originally took over ownership of the complex in late September after buying the 150-bed Tenth Street location from another care provider.

The Hospital Employees’ Union claims very few staff will continue working at Wexford and the changeover will have a major negative impact on the residents and their continuity of care. However, Park Place reports that 90 per cent of the employees that worked there under the previous owner were still employed as of Oct. 3.

“If you’re dealt some unpleasant news in your workplace very few of us have the ability to pack our bags and say ‘that’s it, I’m done’,” says Kim Slater, chair of the Vancouver Island Association of Family Councils. “What has happened typically in other situations like this is those very people start looking for other jobs. It creates that instability that can go into the future.”

Slater says he was contacted by staff, as well as family members and friends of residents, with concerns over the changes at Wexford. He says it came largely as a surprise to them and the impact of the staff disruptions created an unpredictable situation.

Ian West, vice president of operations for Park Place, says the decision to contract out the services at Wexford was made by the previous owner (Good Samaritan Society) and was a process that began six months ago. Employees were given the timeline of the layoffs and were given that time to make decisions, he says.

A huge part of the problem in B.C., according to Slater, is the fact that operators are not required by the province to communicate or consult with residents, families or family councils when they make changes that impact quality of care. He points to a recent scenario on the Sunshine Coast where residents found out about the closure of two care homes through the media. Slater says his group is pushing the Ministry of Health hard to give a greater voice to groups like family councils.

“Residential care service delivery doesn’t fall under the Canada Health Act so each province kind of does its own thing…what should be happening, and it’s not, is giving the community a voice in the things that are going on,” says Slater. “Other provinces embrace having family councils with guaranteed opportunities to have that voice. In B.C. there are no such regulatory languages that guarantee that opportunity to participate in these kind of discussions.”

Another point of contention is the apparent shift from not-for-profit operators to for-profit ones. According to Island Health’s online residential care beds report 30 of the 49 central island facilities are run by private for-profit companies. Thirteen are run by private not-for-profits and six are run by the health authority. The change from Good Samaritan to Park Place at Wexford means the addition of another for-profit provider.

“Should there be a profit motive in healthcare?” says the HEU’s Jennifer Whiteside. “If so, how much should that profit be? Because nobody knows. There’s no public policy discussion about how much profit is enough, too little, too much…there’s been a shift in the last 10 years that has really tipped the scale in favour of the private sector without any kind of debate publicly about how it is we want to be delivering care to seniors.”

There has always been a mix of operators on Vancouver Island, according to Norm Peters, executive director for surgery, heart health and residential services with Island Health. About two-thirds of all the residential care facilities on the island are run by third parties, according to Peters.

“One of the learnings we’ve had is how to deliver cost-effective services and make sure we deliver quality care. We actually see having a balance in the marketplace between all those providers actually helps improve the sector,” says Peters. “We haven’t seen any evidence to indicate that the level of care differs between the various different models.”

Slater says while that’s an interesting perspective there are ample studies that show not-for-profit facilities have a higher service level than for-profit.

Peters says Island Health will continue to monitor the situation at Wexford Creek. He says the authority is comfortable with the approach being taken by Park Place and will have bi-weekly reviews to check on the conditions. Park Place’s VP vows that the change in ownership does not mean a change in the commitment to care.