Dear Editor:
I have been following the story about the Summerland Seniors Village. My heart goes out to the Bonaldi family.
My husband and I both worked at a long term care facility, called Parkdale Place for 15 years. This facility was government funded, and run by a non-profit society with a volunteer board of directors. Management consisted of an administrator, director of care, support services manager, and activity coordinator. The staff consisted of unionized workers who were paid a wage one could actually live on. We were like one big family at Parkdale, everyone having a role to play, with one common goal: the resident.
The most unique thing I remember about this facility was the staff room. It was not made up of tables and chairs, where groups would tend to segregate themselves. It was a room with comfy chairs all around the perimeter. Everyone would have lunch and coffee together, management, nursing and support workers. From the highest paid to the lowest paid. We laughed together, and cried together, and often grumbled together, but everyone felt they had value and knew the job they had to do. The residents were our priority, and everyone was expected to do their best in order to care for them.
Parkdale Lodge was connected and consisted of apartments where people lived independently. Our administration and maintenance staff looked after the care of the building, but often of the needs of the tenants as well. Everyone seemed to look out for one another.
Then one day the Liberal government in all its wisdom decided to privatize long term care facilities in our province. Our beloved Parkdale was actually razed to the ground.
The government waged war with all those unionized workers, and tore up their contracts and came up with new rules, displacing workers and bringing in wage cuts.
They encouraged the private sector to build new facilities, to be run for profit, while still thinking they would provide the same level of care for the resident.
In all the years of working at Parkdale Place not once do I remember such horror stories as those that have come out of the Summerland Seniors Village.
We had no Health Authority overseeing things, just real live management that knew how to treat their staff and the people they were required to care for.
I don’t know how many actual dollars have been saved by privatizing the care of the elderly.
Sadly it seems there has been much lost.
Carla McLeod
Summerland