UPDATE: Ricky Kwan said he met with Fraser Health CEO Michael Marchbank on Wednesday, and he has agreed to stop the contracting-out process for now, which means he won’t continue with the call for proposals from other care providing contractors. Kwan said he will rescind the layoff notices to nurses if Fraser Health can change the funding model and provide more money to George Derby Centre. Kwan said he’s planning to discuss the issue with Fraser Health in early June.
The way Dave Peacock sees it, he owes his life to the nurses at George Derby Centre.
He came into the care home for veterans and civilians a year ago, weighing 92 pounds after a stroke, a colonoscopy and four months of not eating.
The nursing staff got him into a wheelchair, then a walker, and now he gets around with a cane. He took physical therapy to help with walking, just before the program was cut for non-veterans. Now Peacock is a healthy 158 pounds.
The care he received is part of why Peacock gets emotional when he vows to fight for the nurses, all of whom received layoff notices this week.
“I needed extended care, and I got the best. The nurses, the care aides, right down to the janitors – everybody treats us like we’re home,” Peacock said. “These guys saved my life. I’m going to back them up.”
On Monday, management delivered layoff notices to all of the full-time and part-time nursing staff: 54 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. There are 39 casual nurses that fill in at the centre, and they, too, will soon receive notice they are no longer needed.
All of the changes have Peacock upset. He said he thinks the current executive director was brought in to break the union and privatize the care home.
“It will turn into another geriatric warehouse, and that’s what they’ve got all over the province,” he said.
The NOW spoke to several residents, many veterans in their 90s, and many upset about the layoff notices. Family members and loved ones are also angry.
Marilyn Chepil’s father fought in the war and developed dementia while at George Derby. He often thought the Germans were in the building and at one point even hid under a bed in fear, according to Chepil. He passed away last January, but Chepil’s 90-year-old mother, a civilian, is still at George Derby. Chepil, a Cloverdale resident, is upset about the nurses’ layoffs.
“It’s very wrong. Those nurses know the residents there. … They treat them like they are their own parents. It makes me cry,” she said. “These are real people. These are men and some women who were overseas, fighting for Canada, and this is how they are treated? It’s terrible.”
Ricky Kwan, George Derby’s executive director, delivered the layoff notices, hoping Fraser Health will pitch in $1 million to help with the non-profit centre’s finances. Kwan said Fraser Health’s recommended 2.87 hours of daily, direct care for residents will come with a $1.2 million price tag.
Meanwhile, as the aging veterans population declines, so does the attached Veterans Affairs funding for specialized care – hence the reductions in some programs.
George Derby, which was primarily a veterans home, is now roughly half veterans and half civilians.
Fraser Health told the NOW Kwan was asked not to make any decisions as a financial review is underway. When asked why he went ahead with the layoffs anyway, Kwan said he wasn’t sure why Fraser Health was asking the centre to wait six to eight weeks.
“If they have the funding commitment, we can withdraw the contracting out process any time,” he said.
George Derby residents react to the nursing layoffs:
- “This is my home, and these are my family. If that big shot (executive director Ricky Kwan) wants money, go to the Prime Minister,” Mildred Nielsen, 92, veteran.
- “I don’t think it’s very nice, because we’ve gotten used to them, and they got used to us. … Old people kind of get set in their ways,” Ken Carlson, 94, veteran and resident poet. See his poem about the centre’s crisis on page 6.
- “I don’t think it’s very wise if these nurses have been doing this work for some time,” Bill Burnett, 93, veteran.
- “Disgusting,” Bud Jeffries, 90, veteran.
- “I don’t think it’s fair really. They’ve got to make a living, too,” Leonard Bilodeau, 87, civilian.
- “I think it stinks. It’s not fair that since the new owners took over, things have changed here. Everything’s run downhill since. ... They keep saying that (layoffs are needed to deal with the financial crisis) but I think better management should be employed here,” Alex Hadden, 98, civilian.
