BC FORUM News - From The Advocate, Summer, 2019

Making home support an integral part of health care

Advocate page 4

Thousands of home support clients will soon be looked after by the public health care system rather than for-profit corporations.

The Fraser, Vancouver Coastal and Island Health Authorities will shift to in-house delivery of the majority of home support as contracts with other providers expire.

Fraser Health currently provides 37 per cent of home support in-house, and will move to 90 per cent over the next 12 months.

Vancouver Coastal is 26 per cent in-house, and will also move to 90 per cent in 12 to 18 months. Island Health directly delivers home support on central and northern Vancouver Island. It will start delivering home support on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands on Nov. 1 this year.

The BCGEU, which represents 4,800 home support workers throughout the province, called the move “a real victory for home support workers and the B.C. seniors who rely on their care.”

“Bringing these workers into the health authorities will finally address the precarious nature of contract-based work with private providers and will enable more of a team-based multi-disciplinary approach to providing care at home,” said Stephanie Smith, President of the BCGEU.

Mary Ackenhusen, President and CEO of Vancouver Coastal Health, called the change an excellent opportunity “to improve patient care, enhance service coordination, and better align home support with the provincial vision of more teambased and connected community and primary care systems.”

Health Minister Adrian Dix said returning home support to public delivery will help improve scheduling, increase stability for staff and seniors, and support recruitment of more staff.

“Home support under the previous government, aside from the cuts and lack of service, was sort of kept aside from everything else. We need to integrate it,” said Dix.

He says home support is vital because it allows people to stay at home longer.

“This is for the clients. They’re my biggest priority. They are often frail or elderly seniors. They rely on the service. They need home support to be part of a continuity of care, and it makes sense for the health authorities to do that,” he said.

Dix described the current arrangement as a chopped-up mixed system that wasn’t working very well for anyone.

“We have to do a better job organizing this service, especially if we’re going to increase our investment in it,” he said.

Dix acknowledged it will take some time to fix home support – to make the work less precarious and more consistent, and to provide better service to seniors and people with disabilities.

“The goal is to make it better. There will be more resources in home support services, and bringing the services together allows us to offer more and better options, and more easily recruit people,” he said.

The health authorities say it will be a priority to ensure a seamless transition for home support clients, providing a high level of care and continuity. The BCGEU adds that home support workers will be transitioned to the health authorities with no loss in wages, benefits or pension plans.