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Public meeting in Courtenay to discuss state of residential care in B.C.

Long term residential care for seniors is an issue that is top of mind for many in B.C. these days. The Comox Valley will be hosting a town hall on the theme, “B.C. Can Do Better: Residential Care in Our Province,” on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the Upper Native Sons Hall.
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A town hall is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 23 at Native Sons Hall in Courtenay to discuss the state of senior care in the province. Black Press file photo

Long term residential care for seniors is an issue that is top of mind for many in B.C. these days. The Comox Valley will be hosting a town hall on the theme, “B.C. Can Do Better: Residential Care in Our Province,” on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the Upper Native Sons Hall.

The town hall, with B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel MacKenzie, will be focused on audience experience and suggestions on how to improve the living conditions of our elders in residential care homes, and the lives of the people who love them. It will also cast an eye to the future when those who are now independent and healthy require residential care.

The town hall will start with four short presentations moving from the local experience to provincial-level research and findings comparing the care in not for profit and public long term care homes, with that in the care homes that are run for profit. The four panel members include family members of residents in Comox Valley Seniors Village and Nanaimo Seniors Village, Jennifer Whiteside, secretary-business manager of the Hospital Employees Union, and MacKenzie, who will be presenting the findings of her office’s latest research on the issue.

“This is an issue of great concern to all of us,” says Jennifer Pass of Comox Valley Elders Take Action, one of the sponsors of the town hall. “Families are affected in so many ways, whether you are concerned about your parents, or your own future.”

“Now is the time to bring this issue out of the shadows,” said Barb Biley of Seniors Voices Comox Valley, the other sponsoring organization. “It is our social responsibility to defend the rights of seniors to the best care our society can provide!”

Another town hall on the same topic will be held in Nanaimo the following Saturday.

Admission is free, but donations will be collected to cover the cost of the hall rental and other expenses for the town hall.

For More Information: 250-338-3149