When Vancouver Coastal Health announced in June 2016 that the Trellis Group’s privately owned and operated Silverstone Care Centre would replace two public long-term care facilities in Sechelt, the community recoiled in shock and anger. A town hall meeting later that month at the Seniors Activity Centre drew more than 250 unionized workers, seniors, family members of seniors in care, and concerned citizens. Speakers at the event who reflected the mood of outrage included MLA Nicholas Simons and officials from the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) and BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU). The message: the fight was on.
Almost 32 months and two abandoned sites later, VCH announced last week that agreements covering direct patient care and support workers are now in place with the HEU and BCNU, and that the facility can finally be built on shíshálh Nation lands at Wilson Creek. In a complete turnabout from 2016, Mr. Simons, BCNU president Christine Sorensen and Jennifer Whiteside of the HEU praised the agreement unreservedly. Ms. Whiteside, who had been a vocal opponent of the original Silverstone proposal, said: “We thank the community of Sechelt for their commitment to protecting quality services and good jobs, and look forward to working with the operator to ensure a smooth transition.”
Politics notwithstanding, the clear takeaway is that the good fight has been fought, some significant progress was achieved, and it’s now time to move on.
But not everyone agrees. Judging from a lengthy response to Friday’s announcement by Protect Public Health Care – Sunshine Coast spokesman Ian McLatchie, the battle against the Trellis deal will continue without pause. “Supporters of public health care should be alarmed” by the new contract, Mr. McLatchie wrote, dismissing the unions’ gains as paltry and listing the now-familiar complaints about for-profit care and its sometimes “catastrophic” consequences, peppered with jabs at the perfidious NDP.
Lost causes have a romantic appeal, but they can also do harm by distracting from serious work. In the case of long-term care on the Coast, the work that needs to be done now is focusing public pressure on VCH to follow through with its plan to repurpose Shorncliffe as a dementia care centre. It’s already identified by VCH as a “high priority,” but it’s also “very preliminary” and will cost $25 million.
The creation of 25 dementia-housing beds, four hospice beds, and six respite beds at Shorncliffe, when added to the 125 beds at Silverstone, could make an inestimable difference in the lives of seniors at both facilities. It would also preserve or create more jobs in the health care system.
VCH promised extensive consultation on the future of Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge after a formal announcement is made about the Trellis facility. That means soon.
The community has shown how it can rally for quality long-term care. Here is a chance to do it constructively. At this stage, attacking the Trellis deal on ideological grounds is not going to change anything and is quite frankly unhelpful.
