Dear editor,
In February, the Seniors Advocate Report came out and had some startling news, especially in regards to funding and monitoring, accountability, openness and transparency in contracted long term-care facilities.
Residing in a private care home, one would think that the care would be superior, but the reality is that you are really in a for-profit care home. This means that the care homes’ priority is to make a profit for the owners. Decisions are made by the owners based on making a profit. Imagine, making a profit caring for seniors, many of whom are vulnerable, and may have complicated care issues and are unable to advocate for themselves.
A bed in a long-term care facility costs $7,500 per month. Families who take an Island Health bed pay according to how much income a person has. That is 80 per cent of the residents’ earnings to a maximum of $3,444.60, with the rest paid by Island Health. This money comes from taxpayer dollars, so we are all funding these beds through our tax dollars. If you have a private bed, you pay the full amount.
For-profit care homes in B.C. generated 12 times the amount of profit and/or surplus than generated by the non-profits. The difference is $34.4 million for for-profit care homes versus $2.8 million profit and/or surplus generated by the non-profit care homes. We need governments to look at these inequities and ask themselves why we are allowing for-profit care homes to be built or bought. We should not be allowing for-profit care homes in Canada!
Greta Judd,
Comox Valley
