Everything, everywhere else except Prince George. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Woe is us. What are we to do? Alas!

This is good news for Prince Rupert.

As Harbinger states, what about Prince George? When is Pat Bell going to do something for the seniors of Prince George who live within his riding? Too much political rhetoric and too little action!

I have a wife dying in Jubilee Lodge ECU, which is attached to the hospital. The crowding is terrible, with, at last count, 66 residents on one floor, each small room contains 4 residents with absolutely no privacy. I understand that Simon Fraser is even worse. Is Health Minister, George Abbott, aware of this situation?

The government presently has a huge surplus in the billions of dollars. Let's put some of this money into housing and care for the seniors of Prince George and area. George Abbott and Pat Bell.....are you listening, now that you have received your 29% pay incresase? Are the care aides in these facilities still being penalized after the Liberals tore up their contract? If the politicians increased their pay by 29% (Campbell-54%) then the care aides deserve far more for the job they do! When was the last time a politician inspected the senior's care facilities in Prince George.

"When was the last time a politician inspected.....? Well, my friend, I guess you will just have to wait til they (the politicians) come snooping around in need of votes. Then try to get a commitment. Nice trick. Even in writing, they will weasel out. If they don't weasel out , prepare to wait about four or more years, while they talk and do studies. Just wait. You got time, if nothing else.

One of those "whatever happened" posts ....

Whatever happened to the centre which got zoning approval to be constructed in the Gateway? Looked like a wonderful facility which is badly needed.

Hopefully they are not having trouble finding construction workers too.

;-)

Honestjoe i'm so sorry for your wife and for you for having to see her this way. I worked at the Simon Fraser Lodge about a year ago as housekeeper but only lasted six months due to reasons i'll keep to myself. Had nothing to do with the residents. I came to love a lot of them. The new oak wing is very nice and would be nice to see the rest of the building get a well deserved makeover including the kitchen. The residents need to be first priority and with my eyes I didnt see that happening. Shortage of care aides, nurses and housekeepers believe me. It's hard to keep the rooms up the way the residents deserve to live when you are expected to race the clock. The care aides I found to be very caring and giving there just wasnt enough of them to go around. Many times I was asked by residents to please help them find their rooms which I loved doing but wasn't really allowed to do. Anyway, Honestjoe my heart goes out to you. It really does and yes Prince George should be next on the list.

Honestjoe, it must be a tremendous blow to you, paying taxes at the rate we do in Canada (if you add up income tax, GST, PST, municipal tax, and the wide assortment of fees and levies which presently total about 50% of your income), retiring, and expecting to live a life in retirement where the government will pay reasonable health care and nursing home costs for you and your wife, and then having to go through the experience which you are presently going through.

Governments receive lots of money from taxpayers in this country. The problem is they are not spending this money smartly, and they are not thinking of the future. Unfortunately the only thing they are concerned about is the next election.

The aging baby boom generation will impose a tremendous cost to future taxpayers. Hopefully our present governments will soon start to put away some money to help future taxpayers pay for this challenge.

The following paragraph is from a recent Statistics Canada article. The paragraph after that is from a recent Toronto Star article.

"The projections show that population ageing, which has already begun, would accelerate in 2011 when the first baby-boom cohort (born in 1946) reaches the age of 65. This rapid ageing is projected to last until 2031, when seniors would account for between 23% and 25% of the total population. This would be almost double their current proportion of 13%."

"Statistics Canada, in its 2006 portrait of seniors, paints a picture of what is coming: "The aging phenomenon is gathering speed and over the next 20 years, the number of people over the age of 65 will double. (If) current patterns remain true, at least 2 million of them will require in-home care."

To Heidi1555 and/or Honest Joe, could you please answer the following question since you both have experience with local retirement lodges.

With respect to Honestjoe's post where it says "each small room contains 4 residents with absolutely no privacy", does this mean these 4 residents have to share a common bedroom?

If anyone wishes to read the articles which I have quoted, here are the links to them.

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051215/d051215b.htm


http://www.thestar.com/article/205571

Anyone counting on the value of their home to get them through their retirement years, should realize that home values can go down as well as go up.

Charles for the most part most of the living quarters are shared yes by 4 or less residents usually in the older wings. In the newer oak wing is where residents can have their own room. Money money money...sickens me. S.C.U patients had a newer wing with own rooms. The room which is shared has only one toilet..keep in mind that most residents have some sort of stomach problem and can't get around very easily by themselves. Two sinks which seemed plenty enough so a plus to the sink situation. The division between the beds is made up of thin curtains that resemble bed sheets. (Good thing i'm not working there anymore or they'd fire me for this post.) The floors are lifting in older wings. Toilet seats were loose which proved to be dangerous as I discovered one day. A man who had hep. C went to use the common bathroom near front entryway and slipped while trying to seat himself, didn't make it and he ended up having accident on floor. Care Aides tried their best to clean it up after I ran for help but were soon called away to another resident. So they brought him to his room and I was left to clean up the rest of the mess which wasn't part of my job it is supposed to be the care aide who does that. The lady who had the contract at the time was actually thinking of ways to save money and wanted to cut our protective gloves from the list. Now i'm not sure if it was up to her totally on that decision but as our boss it was up to her to make sure we stay safe. We ended up keeping gloves believe me. That's just one incident Charles. The plumbing one day went and the bathing room was flooding with some sewage...had to clean that one up too meaning the residents rooms weren't being done because I was stuck in the bathing room. One resident had a small room to himself. He needed to be hooked up to a respirator 24/7 which meant extra machines and a lot of extra cords on the floor. Now here's a man that needed a respirator to stay alive yet his room was so small and cluttered it was hard to sweep up the dust and dirt from underneath of where he lay most hours of the day. Ok i'm done ratting out that place. Bottom line it needs a makeover badly. Those care aides have huge hearts there and really do their best given what they have to work with. The last few days, weeks,months, or years a person has shouldn't be this way. It needs to be less depressing for them not more depressing. I read an article once in Health magazine about murals being painted on the walls of hospitals. Was quite amazing to read how the moods of these residents changed just from having a little bit of colour added to their life. How hard is that at least?

To heidi1555.....thanks for your kind remarks and information. I too have nothing but praise for the care aides who do a job most of us could not do. They are wonderful human beings and I am still upset at the way Gordon Campbell, Pat Bell and the rest of the Liberals treated them. What contract will the Liberals tear up next.
To charles.....thank you too for your kind remarks and info. Yes, all four people share a common room, which is their only room. The rooms are copies of hospital rooms. The statistics you provided are facts....will the politicians bury their head in the sand instead of acting on them? I was born in 1944. I retired on January 01 of this year so I'm just ahead of the post WWII baby boom.
I wish I could wave a magic wand and provide our seniors with respectable places to live out their last days. Our politicians seem more concerned with the 2010 olympics. It is so sad indeed. Where do we look for help with this matter of our seniors?

There was this man that would come visit his young 29ish yr. old son who was shot through the eye. He's now blind and slowly was starting to move his arms. He could talk and whenever I went in to clean his room he would keep saying,"Heidi why did I not learn the first time?" Then he'd crack some joke. I was drawn to him because of what had happened to Kevin. Sad. Anyway, his dad was so hurt from the lack of attention his son would receive. He had bad bed sores and needed to be brought to the bathroom as he was pretty much paralized. The father one day told me he was going to take his son out of that place and hire a full time at home care aide. Would be nice if this option was made possible for all families.