A B.C. care home subcontractor has sent layoff notices to 200 workers, including some from Victoria’s Beacon Hill Villa and Nanaimo’s Seniors Village.

Media reports say Abbey Therapeutic Services told its employees last week they would not be receiving any further paycheques.

Retirement Concepts, which owns the care homes and subcontracted services to Abbey Therapeutic, has stepped in and agreed to temporarily pay workers.

It wasn’t clear Sunday how long the arrangement would last.

“We’re working on an interim agreement which will see all the Abbey workers continuing to work and they will be paid by a Retirement Concepts subsidiary,” Retirement Concepts spokesman Chris Freidmond said.

Calls to Abbey Therapeutic Services on Sunday were met with an answering machine message that indicated the office would be closed until Tuesday.

“Their move on Friday came as a complete surprise to us,” said Freidmond. “We’re not sure what happened with the company or why they chose to tell their employees why they would not get paid. We’re not sure exactly what their position is.”

Vancouver Island Health Authority is closely monitoring the situation and assured residents and their families staffing levels will be maintained at the care homes.

“Under the contract we have with Retirement Concepts, they are obligated to maintain staffing levels. And I have been told that Retirement Concepts is in discussions with the HEU [Hospital Employees’ Union] to reach some sort of agreement in order to maintain staffing levels,” said VIHA spokesman Stephen May.

NDP health critic Adrian Dix pinned the blame on the Campbell government, which privatized many health services during its first term.

Cleaning, dietary and other support services were contracted out to private companies, which slashed wages and undermined service quality, he said. The government’s 2002 legislation, Bill 29, also created an environment for the chronic flipping of contracts between long-term care operators and subcontractors.

“The government has created a situation of constant internal instability in these care homes, and this is yet another consequence,” he said.

“If you’re a senior, you’re dealing with instability in the one place that needs stability,” Dix said.

Kim Slater is the chairman of the family council at Nanaimo Seniors Village. He said he’s growing tired of the continuing disruptions of care at the seniors’ centre.

He said elderly people like certainty and develop relationships with care staff members. They are concerned by the number of changes that have happened since the government allowed for the privatization of services at hospitals and seniors’ centres.

“We’ve been through this four times and it’s time for the province to fix this problem,” said Slater, whose elderly mother is a resident at NSV.

Retirement Concepts has made headlines in the past for problems at Beacon Hill Villa, its 80-bed facility on Superior Street.

In 2007, VIHA froze admissions and appointed a public administrator to run the home after a two-week investigation revealed the facility didn’t have enough staff, kept poor records, failed to properly report incidents and wasn’t providing quality care to residents.

mpearson@tc.canwest.com

wcordery@nanaimodailynews.com