B.C.’s seniors advocate is confident an infusion of $548 million will help bring care levels for seniors up to recommended levels.
The new funding was included in the provincial budget unveiled on Tuesday.
“It is a significant amount of money,” said Isobel Mackenzie, B.C.’s seniors advocate.
“It is a significant and very public commitment and I am very confident the money will go from the government to the health authorities and from the health authorities to the facilities.”
The budget included an additional $1.5 billion over three years for the Ministry of Health, which had a budget of $18.9 billion in 2017-18.
Of that, $548 million is earmarked for seniors, including increased direct-care hours in residential care facilities.
A report from Mackenzie’s office said only 15 per cent of B.C.’s care homes are providing the recommended minimum of 3.36 hours of direct care per resident per day.
Mackenzie said it will cost about $110 million a year to bridge the gap.
The $548 million will be disbursed over three years: $78 million in the first year and $220 million and $250 million in the following years.
Jennifer Whiteside, secretary-business manager for the 49,000-member Hospital Employees’ Union, said the investment is “real money” — unlike the four-year, $500-million plan announced by the former Liberal government just before the last election.
“This investment demonstrates a real commitment to do the heavy lifting we need to do in this sector … so that we can hire the staff and put the resources in place to actually close the gap,” Whiteside said.
“I believe there is real genuine help for seniors in care homes now and those who provide the help for them.”
Island Health currently provides an average of 3.32 hours of direct care per patient per day in health-authority owned and run facilities. Publicly funded contracted facilities are at 3.13 hours of direct care per resident per day.
Extra care time for a person in residential care could mean a shower rather than a sponging, a bathroom visit rather than diapers, helping with a meal or having a conversation.
Previous reports from the seniors advocate show this is the type of care seniors are most lacking and say they need. This care is delivered mostly by care aides.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said this month it would take 1,500 new jobs — about 900 care aides, 300 licensed practical nurses, 165 registered nurses and other health workers — to meet the daily requirement.
Mackenzie said the province can track whether the funding flows through health authorities to care providers, but a mechanism will be needed to measure whether the required care is delivered.
“There’s going to have to be a robust, openly transparent, unequivocal system — and we’re not used to that — of making sure that those care hours that are being funded are being staffed,” Mackenzie said.
