On March 29, the Times Colonist editorial stated: “Hospice is a good investment.” I couldn’t agree more.
As a retired nurse who took the hospice training and was able to use it within the acute-care hospital system, I know the great work done by Victoria Hospice has just gotten better and better, and has improved the lives of everyone who comes in contact with its services both on the hospital unit and in the community. The last days of my friend and Saanich colleague, Irene Block, were made so much better because of hospice.
Another good investment in our health system is the funding and support for public community-health centres with an emphasis on primary care. In our community, the only two centres are at Hillside Health Point Seniors Centre and the James Bay Community Health Centre. Both these centres represent an integrated model of service, emphasizing health promotion and disease prevention, and involving a range of health practitioners.
The current dispute between the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the staff at Health Point represents a move by VIHA to alter the excellent model established in 2004 in B.C. and outlined in the B.C. Primary Health Charter produced by the Ministry of Health in 2006-07. This move contradicts the integrated model and forces the staff at the centre to operate the clinic in a way similar to the private walk-in clinics, which many seniors are forced to use as they do not have a family doctor. These clinics do not provide integrated care and lack continuity for clients, especially seniors.
Public primary-care centres were one of the core recommendations of the 2002 National Commission on Health Care headed by former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, and his recommendation was followed up by the federal government, which provided a large financial incentive to the provinces to establish these centres across Canada. In a recent report by the Canada Health Council, the establishment of which was another of Romanow’s recommendations, the council reported that none of the provinces had accounted for this money or reported adequately on what initiatives they had taken to establish primary health centres.
The strength of public primary-care centres for our senior population is the provision of continuity of care by familiar staff and the resolution of complex needs and support for chronic illnesses, including mental health. Adequate time is needed by staff to address these issues, and increasing the client load and reducing time spent with clients is not an acceptable move.
Services provided by primary health centres save the health system money by keeping many seniors out of hospital emergency departments and acute-care beds which are the most expensive parts of our health-care system. And equally important are the improvements in the quality of life for these seniors as an outcome. As a seniors advocate, I have witnessed firsthand clients receiving timely and lifesaving service provided by staff at Health Point Seniors Centre.
As Emmett Hall, former Supreme Court justice, has said; “From the humanitarian standpoint, there is, we believe, an obligation on society to be concerned with the health of its individuals. But on the economic side, investments in health and investments in human capital ... pay great dividends to a nation that looks after the health of its people.”
Carol Pickup is co-ordinator of advocates for Seniors Entitlement Service and a former Saanich councillor.
