Family concerned by care centre layoffs
People with ‘multi-year experience and knowledge’ put out of work
A woman whose 88-year-old mother is losing her primary caregiver at Burnaby’s George Derby Centre on July 11 is increasingly worried about the type of future care she’ll receive at the nursing home for war veterans.
“Our concern is we’re losing people with the multi-year experience and knowledge of our mom,” Lesley Elchuk said in an interview. Her mother, Joan Gillis, is being treated at the centre for dementia.
Pink slips were issued in May to 15 registered nurses and 39 licensed practical nurses. The centre plans to replace them with contract workers to meet a $1-million budget shortfall, but layoffs were put on hold while the Fraser Health Authority conducted a financial review.
Elchuk and sister Nancy Gillis’s concerns were echoed by Paul Ballinger, chairman of the George Derby Centre Family Council, who said in a letter to Postmedia News that he is concerned that his group, which represents residents’ families, has little influence on board decisions affecting their loved ones.
“This is disgraceful and totally ignores the fundamentals of courtesy to all stakeholders,” Ballinger wrote in his letter.
“(The society doesn’t) share factual information, just conclusions and decisions taken, and they do not permit highly interested people, like the residents’ families, to become members of the society with a result that we have no influence on who is elected to the board,” added Ballinger, who couldn’t be reached for further comment.
Elchuk, whose father, Second World War veteran John Gillis, died at the centre two years ago, is also upset that her request to join the George Derby Care Society was refused. She said Ricky Kwan, the centre’s executive director, indicated in a letter to her that bylaws had been amended so that relatives were not eligible for membership.
“I find it totally bizarre,” Elchuk said, adding that she was told by a care co-ordinator that the centre has 13 empty beds. “Previously, family members could be part of (the society).”
If family members were allowed on the society’s board, she added, “we’d be looking for more transparency, better communication around the financial situation and the decisions being made at the centre.”
Kwan said the board felt it had no option but to replace nursing staff with temporary workers as a cost-saving measure.
Kwan said the layoffs will resume, with registered nurses leaving by July 12 and licensed practical nurses leaving by November.
Fraser Health spokeswoman Tasleem Juma said they conducted a review to find out whether the funding from the authority was enough to care for the residents, “and we determined yes, they are appropriately funded.”
On Tuesday, Kwan added: “One thing for sure is that the nurses working at GDC, whether they are GDCS’s employees or through contracted service providers, have to be members in good standing with their respective colleges.”
Kwan also confirmed that they now have 13 vacant beds, adding that “an agreement between FHA and GDC to hold off (on) new move-in … will likely be lifted after the initial transition.”
Kwan said GDC wants to work with residents and families and that, to that end, the GDC Family Council was established in October 2015.
Kwan said council members “may have limited experience in residential care operation and the health-care system.”
Asked if any of the replacement nurses would be members of the B.C. Nurses’ Union, Kwan said that he didn’t know, “but likely not when they first start. That ( being) said, (an) individual nurse may belong to the BCNU in relation to their other commitments.”