Study after study has confirmed that seniors in for-profit care receive inferior support and suffer worse health outcomes compared to those in publicly-funded or non-profit alternatives. That’s because the profit motive inherent in private systems is directly at odds with spending money on things like adequate staffing or decent pay and benefits.
Right now, 79 per cent Canada’s COVID-19 deaths are connected to long-term care facilities and make up the majority of deaths in B.C.
The good news is that repairing seniors’ care in our province has already begun. In 2019 the BC NDP transitioned all home support workers – those working in the community – from private contracts back into direct government employment. The BCGEU had long called for this change and you can read more about it here. This was an important and timely achievement but now we need to do the same in residential care.
To sign the petition, click on Seniors Deserve Better
or http://act.newmode.social/661364927t