BC’s for-profit LTC homes are investing less in patient care, seniors advocate reports

Non-profit long-term care (LTC) facilities are spending more money per patient than for-profit facilities, BC’s seniors advocate says.

A report released this week is a follow-up to one released in 2020, before the pandemic began—and quickly spread through LTC facilities— exposing the scope of issues in staffing and care.

The latest study examined financial reports for more than 90% of BC’s subsidized, contracted long-term care facilities between 2017/18 and 2021/22—and it shows that the amount of money spent on care is not equal to the rising profits, especially at for-profit facilities.

Not-for-profit facilities spent 25% more per resident on direct care and 27% more on indirect care than for-profit facilities, while the for-profit sector generated seven times more in revenues.

The profits aren’t rising for all care facilities—80% of total profit is concentrated in only 20% of the facilities, the majority of which are for-profit, the seniors advocate said.

Rising revenues, but under-delivery of care

Not-for-profit facilities also delivered 93K hours more of direct care than they were funded to offer, while for-profits delivered 500K hours fewer than they were funded to deliver in 2021/2022.

“Over the past five years, the cost of publicly subsidized long-term care delivered by the private sector has risen 35%—well beyond the rate of inflation,” stated Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie, who refers to the current system as “inequitable”.

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While she did acknowledge improvements made in care, including better funding for staff and equality in pay, Mckenzie said there’s still work to be done. Of the five recommendations made in the 2020 report, the BC government addressed only one: the creation of a standardized financial reporting tool.

Mackenzie insists the four other recommendations must be addressed:

• Funding for care must be spent on care.
• Improve accuracy and transparency of monitoring and reporting for compliance with publicly funded care hours.
• Define profit. Currently, there is no standardized approach to determining what is counted as profit.
• Make revenues and expenditures for publicly funded care homes available to the public

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Island LTCs have had issues with care quality and staffing

In 2019, the health authority took over three Island senior care homes after they failed to meet Community Care Act standards.

Two of them were run by the for-profit company Retirement Concepts, which faced a class-action lawsuit filed by two siblings whose mother lived at one of their homes.

However, the most recent local takeover by Island Health has been of a non-profit-run care facility in Chinatown last month.

Selkirk Seniors Village, one of the for-profit care homes Island Health temporarily took over circa 2019 due to issues such as staffing and quality of care. Photo: Island Health