Vancouver Island Health Authority officials acknowledge that housing seniors in hospitals isn't the best solution for patients waiting for a care bed but say it is often the only choice.
The B.C. Care Providers Association, which represents the majority of private nursing homes in the province, is mounting a campaign to convince Health Minister Kevin Falcon to get more seniors out of costly hospital beds into lower-cost, unoccupied private beds where seniors would get a more suitable quality of care.
Island members of the group are meeting in Saanich today to vote on a motion to urge the minister to address the problem, which they say results in 12% of all hospital beds being occupied by seniors waiting for care beds provincewide.
Nanaimo Regional General Hospital has 31 seniors waiting for beds as of Monday, according to the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Forty-four patients are in that situation from Cobble Hill north to Bowser and west to Tofino. Five are housed at Cowichan District and eight are in West Coast General hospitals.
Beds cost taxpayers $985 a day at NRGH, compared to about $180 a day in a private care home. But VIHA executives say there is no money to move seniors into private care, despite the savings BCCPA says it would free up in health care.
The issue flared up at NRGH this week when Jane Clarkson went public with her story of how her 91-year-old mother's early-stage dementia has worsened while waiting for a care facility bed. She was admitted to NRGH in July. The BCCPA plans to approach Falcon in a few weeks. The minister could not be immediately reached for comment.
"It's a generic problem, I think, that still exists in the system in terms of there are long-stay patients in acute-care beds and that's not the best place for them," said Ed Helfrich, BCCPA chief executive officer. "Obviously health authorities are trying to defend initiatives to deal with it but obviously from (the Nanaimo Daily News) story, they're not dealing with them by any means."
Tony Baena, vice-president of operations at Retirement Concepts, said his Nanaimo Seniors Village campus has 359 beds of which 15 are currently vacant, meaning they are available to house seniors, with funding from VIHA.
"You know, I would like my loved one in the community with similar people with similar needs, with people whose expertise is the provision of care to the elderly," Baena said.
Chartwell Seniors Housing, a real estate trust that owns Gardens at Qualicum Beach, has three vacant units available. Chartwell had four funded beds at Malaspina Gardens in Nanaimo until early this year, when VIHA decided to eliminate those beds through attrition.
"We know they're available out there at less cost than hospital beds," said Lisa Kachur, associate vice-president of operations with Chartwell.
Catherine Mackay, acting executive vice-president of VIHA, said the health authority understands the concerns but said it is difficult to find funding for private beds, especially in this climate of budget cost-cutting.
"We don't have resources for more," Mackay said.
Supporters of using private beds argue that moving seniors out of acute-care beds frees up hospital rooms for their intended purpose, treating the sick and injured.
Vancouver Island members of the care home industry group voted late yesterday to take the issue up with the health minister. "We expect our members will say this is a good thing to ask for," said Dave Hurford, BCCPA spokesman.
- Story by Darrell Bellaart, The Nanaimo Daily News
