Province announces $240 million to improve senior care

VANCOUVER—The province has announced $240 million over three years to expand the number of care hours seniors receive in care homes. In an announcement on Tuesday at the Salvation Army Buchanan Lodge in New Westminster, Premier John Horgan said the funding will increase the numbers of direct care hours that seniors receive each day. Under this funding plan, $48.4 million this year will go to adding more than one million hours of care by converting part-time and casual staff to full time and hiring more staff. “We had a government that put 3.36 hours as the standard of care in the province, but we have not met that standard,” said Horgan, addressing a crowd of seniors at the care home. “You deserve better and we are here today to help make your life a bit better ... with this $240 million con- tribution to ensure we can bring more staff and more people here to help you.” Since 2009, the ministry set a standard of 3.36 direct care hours per resident per day for seniors in care homes, but the provincial average was only at 3.11 per day in 2016. This new funding is expected to increase the average to 3.24 by 2019, and reach the goal of 3.36 by 2021. The funding will help to transition part-time and casual care workers to full time, with 500 aides expected to be converted this year, and 1500 expected at the end of the three-year period. “More than 50 per cent of care aides are part time or casual,” said Adrian Dix, provincial minister of health. “This is a huge opportunity to give people better quality of work and better consistency of care.” Source: thestar.com