Editor:
Among the many deceptive statements in Mike Klassen’s letter defending the proposed Silverstone facility (“Private care not inferior,” May 19), one stands out. His claim that no B.C.-specific studies highlight the inferior quality of care in for-profit centres is simply false.
A 2006 study published in Medical Care found that in general B.C. for-profit facilities demonstrated significantly higher hospitalization rates for pneumonia, anemia and dehydration than public ones. A 2010 Statistics Canada survey showed per-patient nursing care hours increasing at a much slower rate in B.C.’s for-profit facilities than in both public and non-profit centres.
A 2014 Canadian Journal on Aging study focussed on Vancouver Coastal Health Authority facilities. It established that for-profits tend to have a lower threshold for transferring patients to acute care, a process tied to higher risk of infections, falls, delirium and other negative outcomes.
Data from B.C. care centres have also been used in other studies that confirm the disparities between for-profit and public care.
Ironically, while wrongly claiming that the research evidence is irrelevant to British Columbia, Klassen goes out of province to buttress his case. Whatever its value, to suggest that a single “family experience” survey somehow discredits – “debunks,” in Klassen’s words – findings replicated across a large body of peer-reviewed medical research is absurd. In future, Mr. Klassen would do well to avoid engaging on matters of hard science. It’s a battle he can’t win.
For links to studies comparing health outcomes in for-profit, non-profit and public long-term care facilities, visit the Protect Public Health Care – Sunshine Coast website at pphcare.ca. Please join us in the fight to defend public health care in our community.
Ian McLatchie, Davis Bay
