By Joyce Jones, The Province
Health Minister George Abbott finally came clean this week and admitted that the government has only delivered 800 residential care beds in B.C., rather than the 5,000 it promised in 2001.
It's important for British Columbians to understand that these numbers are part of a bigger story that includes surgical wait times and backlogged emergency rooms.
A shortage of long-term care beds doesn't just affect seniors and their families. It can also mean that beds needed for surgeries and for patients admitted through the ER are being used by people who are, in turn, waiting for space in long-term facilities. At the other end of the spectrum, meaningful investments in home support services allow seniors to stay independent and healthy as they age. This can prevent costly trips to the hospital and reduces the time they spend in long-term care facilities.
But these obvious solutions are being ignored.
That's why the B.C. Health Coalition will be mailing 5,000 letters to the premier and health minister next week with a list of strategies to improve seniors' care. Deeply concerned British Columbians across the province have written to demand that their government invest in these seniors' health-care solutions.
The letters call for 5,000 new non-profit residential care beds, a $125 million expansion of home support services, an increase in direct nursing care hours and the establishment of an independent seniors' advocate.
In countless consultations and studies -- most recently the 2007 Conversation on Health and the 2006 Premiers' Council on Aging and Seniors' issues -- citizens have urged government to make seniors and people with disabilities a priority, so they can live with dignity.
The B.C. government has failed to act on these key recommendations at a time when our population is rapidly aging.
Back in 2006 the government also acknowledged it had not kept its 5,000-bed promise, and moved the target date to 2008. But it didn't bother to adjust the bed need to reflect the growth in the elderly population.
According to a groundbreaking Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study, adjusting for the population growth of seniors 75 and older alone would bring the need to 6,815 beds by 2008 and 8,988 by 2010.
The study also documents the rapid rise of the private, for-profit industry in seniors' care. While for-profit facilities have increased by 20 per cent, the number of non-profit residential care beds has fallen by 11 per cent, leaving more residents vulnerable to increased user fees, the disruption of contracting out of care staff and decreased care hours.
British Columbians clearly support seniors' access to quality public health care. Too many couples have been separated, too many seniors have had their health impacted by cuts and the privatization, and too many families have been left wondering how to find care for their loved ones.
In this provincial election, there can be no excuse for ignoring the realities and no excuse for ignoring the real public solutions to improved health care for seniors and all British Columbians.
Joyce Jones is community co-chair of the B.C. Health Coalition.
