The provincial government has announced a $6.4 million boost to residential care homes on Vancouver Island in 2018-19.
A total of 8 care homes in Nanaimo and Parksville will receive increased staffing hours as a result of this funding.
The investment is part of a three-year initiative in which the BC NDP government has pledged $240 million to increase staffing levels in residential care homes across the province.
First announced in September, the funding aims to raise the quality of treatment for senior citizens in residential care facilities and provide residents with 3.36 hours of direct care per day in each health authority by 2021.
“Our government is delivering on our commitment to improve seniors’ care and has increased staffing for seniors’ care on Vancouver Island, with approximately 50,000 more direct-care hours to be provided in this region in this fiscal year alone,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health.
“For seniors, this means they are getting the help they need with day-to-day care and the quality of care they deserve.”
Breakdown of funding for Nanaimo and Parksville facilities:
- Eden Gardens (Nanaimo): $409,000
- Kiwanis Village Lodge (Nanaimo): $220,000
- Malaspina Gardens (Nanaimo): $334,000
- Nanaimo Seniors Village (Nanaimo): $203,000
- Wexford Creek (Nanaimo): $233,000
- Woodgrove Manor (Nanaimo): $160,000
- Arrowsmith Lodge (Parksville): $139,000
- Stanford Seniors Village (Parksville): $170,000
Nanaimo Regional General Hospital will also be getting an upgraded Intensive Care Unit by 2021, after an external review in 2013 found that the hospital’s current ICU was one of the worst in Canada and posed a risk to patients.
