Editor:
I feel compelled to comment on the current breakdown of long-term care in Ontario and Quebec, made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, Canada as a whole is sporting a black eye over this. We in B.C. did not have to call in the military to assist in the care of our virus victims, but “there but for the Grace of God …” We now have to acknowledge that the system is broken, or at least in need of a revamp. So how do we proceed?
First and foremost, we need larger budgets. You can’t provide quality care by pinching pennies – but our governments are now aware of that! And we need well-trained, well-paid nursing staff, in sufficient numbers to give each individual the care they require. We need dieticians, occupational therapists, and activity staff, to keep residents well nourished, mobilized, supervised, and safe. We need support staff to manage infection control, and we need to pay them enough to keep them on the job.
But most of all, we need accountability! Our care facilities should be open books – they should be audited and inspected on a regular basis, and all staff, including management, should be reporting up the chain of command. When the military whistle-blowers exposed the situation in Ontario and Quebec, both provincial premiers claimed ignorance. If this is indeed true, it is unacceptable. There should be a clear code of conduct for all facilities, be they schools, prisons, or care homes, and management should extend beyond their walls. Long-term care should be governed by the health ministries in each province, not by the owners of the facilities. Guarantees should be in place to insure that health-care dollars be spent on health care, and budgets should be overseen by a responsible body. As this crisis ends and we move forward, we need to consider the choices that should be ours to make. We need to do better!
Marilynn Green, Protect Public Health Care
