The Seniors Advocate released the Residential Care Facilities Quick Facts Directory on March 18, and a recent analysis of the 292 government-funded facilities shows that only 50 are meeting or exceeding the guideline of 3.36 hours per day of care. Given that 10 facilities have no data, that still leaves a whopping 80 per cent of facilities where seniors are not getting the minimum hours of care.

The analysis done by Kim Pemberton in the Vancouver Sun on April 6 (Most senior nursing homes miss Ministry of Health staffing guideline, Vancouver Sun, April 6, 2016) puts numbers behind what our members in Health Services have been telling us for some time: staffing levels are too low in long-term care homes. 

"These numbers are absolutely unacceptable," says Sherry Ogasawara, Vice President of Health Services. "We need more funding from the provincial government to these facilities, to increase their staffing levels, and we need more monitoring in place so ensure that employers are maintaining the minimum staffing set out in the guidelines."

The BCGEU represents several thousand care aides across the province. 

Click here to see the Vancouver Sun article.

Click here to see the Residential Care Facilities Quick Facts Directory.