The British Columbia Seniors’ Advocate has been hard at work for the last 10 years and has released Important reports. The latest report I’ve read was released on October 23, 2023. This is a follow up to an earlier report released in 2019. The indictment contained in the 2023 report is that very little has changed in long-term residential care since the previous report despite specific, important recommendations.
Some key findings of the report titled: Billions More Reasons to Care, are outlined here.
Since 2017/2018:
- Direct care staffing costs have increased by 33%
- Indirect care staffing costs have increased by 33%
- Capital building costs (which includes mortgages) were up by 18%
- Supplies and administration costs were up by 61%
- Profit (undefined) increased by 113%
Some significant differences were found again between the for-profit facilities (FP), and not-for-profit facilities (NP):
- NP spent 25% more dollars on direct care
- FP spent 66% more on capital building costs (including mortgages on privately-owned buildings paid for with tax dollars)
- FP earned seven times as much profit as NPs. Profit is not defined, but does NOT include significant management fees and mortgage payments noted above. Both can reasonably be considered profit.
- Overall, FPs pay staff significantly less (including less benefits) than NPs, and FP staff are often less qualified.
The four main recommendations put forward by the BC Seniors’ Advocate are:
- Public money subsidizing long-term facilities designated for Direct Care must be spent on Direct Care, and not on other expenses. If not used for Direct Care, those funds must be returned.
- There must be complete transparency in monitoring standards and in reporting on performance using those standards. Reporting must also be standardized to create comparable data between all care facilities, especially between FP and NP.
- Define profit. Are management fees profit? Are mortgage payments for private facilities profit?
- The financial status and reports of long-term care facilities that are publicly subsidized must be made public.
For much more rich information, read the report: Billions More Reasons to Care linked below. The executive summary, very informative and less than two pages long, is on page 6 of the PDF.
Action Suggested
As a concerned British Columbian and a 2SLGBTQI+ senior, you may wonder what you can do. Write down your views and concerns and own your story. Send it along with suggestions and other thoughts to Josie Osborne, BC Minister of Health at: HLTH.Minister@gov.bc.ca
