British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie reported that British Columbia’s care homes generated $1.4 billion annually in revenue of which $1.3 billion comes from public funding. She also reported that less than half of care home operators are required to make their audited financial statements available to the public and no care homes publicly report their expense statements. 

By Harinder Mahil

The crisis in long term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic makes it clear that all care homes should be run by the government and not by those who want to make a profit. This issue is being discussed by politicians of all political parties as well as people across the country.

In British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec close to 80 per cent of deaths from COVID- 19 are those of seniors living in long-term care homes.

Few weeks ago, the Premier of Quebec requested the federal government to send 1,000 soldiers to help staff the province's besieged long-term care institutions, where the novel coronavirus continues to claim dozens of lives each day. The Premier said he made the request because the province was not been able to find enough workers with the right training to meet the immediate needs of the worst-hit long-term care homes.

Ontario made a similar request a few days later in calling for military assistance in the long-term care facilities as the death toll in the two provinces’ nursing homes continued to rise.

The requests came as both provinces reported staggering mortality rates for COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. The official death toll in Quebec reached has reached 5,500 with more than 80 per cent of the province’s deaths in long-term care homes. 

British Columbia too suffered many deaths in long-term care facilities. It is painful to acknowledge that many of these deaths could have been prevented. Why is it that we have neglected our seniors in this manner? 

Watching on the sidelines about the spread of infection and concerns about how residents in long tern care homes are treated has been overwhelming. It was painful to read the reports on the treatment of seniors at care homes both in Quebec and Ontario submitted by the Canadian military personnel.

In February this year, British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie released her latest report titled A Billion Reasons to Care. The report is the first provincial review of the contracted long-term care sector in British Columbia. The review examined industry contracts, annual audited financial statements and detailed reporting on revenue and expenditures for the years 2016/17 and 2017/18.

 Ms. Mackenzie reported that British Columbia’s care homes generated $1.4 billion annually in revenue of which $1.3 billion comes from public funding. She also reported that less than half of care home operators are required to make their audited financial statements available to the public and no care homes publicly report their expense statements. 

The report stated that care homes in the not-for profit sector spent 59% of revenues on direct care versus 49% in the for-profit sector. The report found that while receiving, on average, the same level of public funding not-for-profit care homes spend $10,000 or 24% more per year on care for each resident.

It is important that long-term care be considered part of the overall health care system and be operated by the government. No one should be allowed to make a profit out of the system and neglect our seniors.

Harinder Mahil is a former commissioner of the British Columbia Human Rights Commission and is presently a director of the Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.