The quality of care at Christenson Village in Gibsons is being questioned this week by Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons.
Simons says he has recently met with over a half dozen people expressing concerns over medication mix-ups, lack of time spent with residents by staff and improper feeding at the facility.
"Christenson Village is understaffed, and residents in complex care are suffering. I'm told that some seniors aren't being fed properly because the staff are so busy, that serious medication errors are happening that aren't being tracked, and there has been an increase in emergency visits," Simons said. "Many staff are going home in tears; they're worried about so many residents being left alone for long periods of time. They need more staff on the units."Christenson Village is run by the Good Samaritan Society, which holds a public/private partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to deliver services to seniors in their care.
When Coast Reporter contacted VCH to see how they are handling the complaints, media spokesperson Clay Adams said the health authority planned no formal investigation. "We have a very good working relationship with Good Sam, and frankly they are an excellent service provider. If complaints are brought to their attention, we have every confidence Good Sam will look into them and deal with them appropriately," Adams said.
Chief executive officer for the Good Samaritan Society, Phil Gaudet, said he has been made aware of the complaints and that they stem from a staffing shortage last month when a Norwalk outbreak was discovered at the facility.
"We are aware of isolated instances where families and residents have voiced concerns regarding the care being delivered," Gaudet said. "Some of these arose from an unusually high number of staff absent on sick leave, some of which was due to an outbreak at the facility. We have been working very hard to ensure our residents are receiving proper care and that we have the staff we need to do so. The facility has been open for only four months and we have been working through what can be a difficult adjustment period for both new staff and new residents."
He could not say what the ratio of staff to residents is, but noted each resident receives 2.8 hours of care per day.
"That exceeds the industry standard," he added.
Simons questions that standard and he's requesting to have a look at the contract signed between the society and VCH to make sure it serves the Sunshine Coast community well.
"There must be some accountability to the community from both Good Sam and the government. We should see the contract," he said.
Other concerns Simons raised include the capability of care aides to administer medication at the facility, noting Christenson Village is the only facility he knows of in B.C. that allows care aides that designation.
He also said medication errors are not being reported regularly to VCH.
Gaudet said there are licensed practical nurses on staff that also administer medication and he said the care aides employed at Christenson Village have had training in that area.
He said complaints and errors such as medication mix-ups are dealt with internally and tracked by the Good Samaritan Society.
"We track that sort of thing through our staff manager to make sure everyone gets the right dose at the right time," he said. "If we miss someone or there is a problem, we need to track that. It's as good a system as you can find anywhere else, and we have had no serious medical injuries, although all service providers have some."
Gaudet said the society is now almost fully staffed and admitted mistakes are made when short-staffed departments are rushing to meet everyone's needs.
"Problems would happen when someone was away or sick. The big key for us is to maintain a full staff all the time," Gaudet said.
He noted the society has now opened up another full-time position at Christenson Village to help deal with the concerns raised.
Adams said VCH may be willing to help with fill-in casual workers when needed, but he said the society would have to approach VCH and make a case for it. He also said there are shortages in all the health care sectors across the province and finding more care aides may prove difficult.
Simons says part of the difficulty finding and retaining staff at Christenson Village is the rate of pay offered by the society.
"Care aides there make $5 less an hour than other care aides on the Coast," he said.
Gaudet says the society is paying its care aides as much as they can at the moment. "I would be lying if I said it's not a perceived problem, but we are doing all we can to provide the maximum funding on salaries that we can," he said.
Adams said VCH might be willing to top up care aide salaries at Christenson Village but again noted that would have to be negotiated between the society and VCH.
Gaudet encourages those with complaints about service at Christ-enson Village to raise those concerns with the site manager.
"Problems need to be brought to the manager's attention. We take these things very seriously," he added.
