I've been waiting for the chance to put my thoughts to paper regarding the unnecessary moving of elderly people from Gibsons Garden Inn to other care homes while waiting for the Good Samaritan building to open next year.
Vancouver Coastal Health says the move is for safety, but the lack of transparency in the process raises my reporter radar.
The Gibsons Garden Inn was changed from a hotel to a facility for seniors about five years ago through a partnership with Coast Garibaldi Health.
Coast Garibaldi Health was to meet the medical needs of seniors while the hotel was to provide laundry services, home-cooked meals, security, private rooms and recreational opportunities. As far as I can tell, the Gibsons Garden Inn has kept up its end of the bargain, and the original one-year pilot project was extended year after year.
Now, suddenly, things aren't so rosy at the Inn, according to Vancouver Coastal Health, which is systematically reassessing seniors at the Inn and ordering them to move or risk having their funding cut.
Why is it these seniors, who apparently need more care, can't be serviced at the Gibsons Garden Inn where they are comfortable, familiar and happy?
When I visited the Gibsons Garden Inn last week I met nearly 94-year-old Judith Renaud, who was just given the news she would have to move to Shorncliffe.
Renaud cried in the hallway outside her private room when she first found out about the change. Her daughter, May Newbergher, was also near tears, saying the space her mother was to move to was more like a "cell" than a room.
But the fear of funding loss causes most not to question the health authority's decision. After all, they hold the purse strings and they make the decisions. Reminds me of the old war poem: "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die."
What would happen if Renaud, who is planning to move to the new Good Samaritan building early next year, stayed at the Gibsons Garden Inn despite Vancouver Coastal Health's order?
She would lose her funding and her family would either have to raise the money to pay for her care or bring her home to live with them. And when the Good Samaritan building opens, I doubt the government would happily put her back on assistance and pay for her care.
These are serious fears seniors and their family members face, but the ministry seems to be saying, "There, there. Now do what we say."
If seniors really are the priority of Vancouver Coastal Health, why not just hire one or two more care aides to work at the Gibsons Garden Inn until the Good Samaritan is open?
Lack of care is the reason given by Vancouver Coastal Health for the moves, but that same health body has the power to provide the care needed.
Families are outraged, and seniors are afraid and confused. However, Vancouver Coastal Health refuses to work with the Gibsons Garden Inn, saying they are doing what's best for the seniors.
People are still fighting, but seniors are still moving. And a feeling of defeat is settling in at the Gibsons Garden Inn.
Still, it's our health system, and enough voices will eventually be heard. I have faith in that. So the question is, what do you have to say about the issue, and who will you tell?
