BC public health streams severely addicted patients into long term care 

COLUMN / OP-ED

Written By Fran Yanor 
Published August 12, 2024

Street-entrenched patients are endangering elderly residents and nursing staff, say sources.

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Patients with severe mental illness and addictions are being channelled into B.C. long term care homes, endangering elderly residents and creating unsafe work conditions for nursing staff, while facility operators reliant on public health funding are scrambling to keep up with the influx, according to several sources.

In what appears to be a province-wide Ministry of Health strategy, health authorities are cramming hard-to-house individuals into existing long term care homes and have plans to expand the system by adding beds and building new facilities with special “pod model” designs that separate patients depending on their needs, Northern Beat has learned.