Provincial government urged to take immediate action to help fill the growing number of care aide and nurse positions
Burnaby, B.C. (October 31, 2019): The health human resources emergency gripping B.C.’s seniors’ care sector has now expanded to include Vancouver Island, as job vacancies for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and health care assistants (HCAs) reach critical levels. BC Care Providers Association (BCCPA) is keeping the pressure on the provincial government to address the staffing shortages by working with care providers and other stakeholder groups to seek solutions.
To illustrate where B.C.’s biggest staffing gaps exist, the industry association today launched its first-ever health human resources “heat map” at www.bccare.ca/heatmap.
“The staffing crisis faced by B.C.’s seniors care sector is symptomatic of a failure to activate a comprehensive health human resources strategy,” says BCCPA Board President Aly Devji. “What the heat map illustrates is that the staffing shortages problem is widespread and growing to several parts of the province.
“Our aim now as a sector should be to implement solutions.”
Since 2018, BCCPA has undertaken multiple measures to analyze and resolve B.C.’s health human resources (HHR) crisis. These include hosting an sector-wide collaborative with care providers, government, labour unions and training colleges; issuing two reports outlining the scale of the crisis and providing 10 recommendations on how to resolve it; establishing a $25,000 HCA bursary program in partnership with Okanagan College, and; partnering with Health Match BC to design their new Choose 2 Care recruitment campaign. In addition, BCCPA will be shortly releasing a forward-looking research report on apprenticeships that contrasts Canada with multiple other jurisdictions.
The growing number of HHR job vacancies proves the need to put ideas into action.
A recent survey of non-government long-term care operators, conducted by BCCPA, reveals that an equivalent of 165 health care assistant (HCA) and 46 licensed practical nurse (LPN) positions are vacant on the Island. Several operators report they are increasingly unable to fill lines to meet the needs of seniors in care.
The situation is as critical in other parts of the province as well.
In May 2019, seniors’ care providers located in the B.C. Interior Health region declared a health human resources emergency due to a dramatic shortage of health care aides. There are at least 247 HCA and 38 LPN positions vacant in the region, and those vacancies have remained constant into the fall. These statistics do not include those from government owned and operated care homes.
While health care assistants provide the majority of direct care for seniors in care homes, licensed practical nurses occupy supervisory roles and are considered vital members of the care team.
Ministry of Health officials have also confirmed that severe recruitment challenges exist in B.C.’s Northern Health region as well.
“The growing number of health care assistant vacancies are compounded by onerous requirements put in place by the B.C. Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry,” says Devji. “It is our understanding that the Ministry of Health are taking steps to address the needless complications that are turning away job candidates from outside the province. They cannot come soon enough.”
To illustrate the challenges felt across the province, BCCPA has published a set of online heat maps which indicate where care aide and LPN vacancies are most acute. Each map was created using data provided by BCCPA members and will be subject to quarterly updates. Forthcoming updates to the heat map will include areas not currently represented on it, such as on the Lower Mainland.
“Despite most of the vacant positions being full-time and offering competitive wages and benefits, care home operators are struggling to recruit enough staff,” says Devji. “We urge the government to work with care providers to address the roadblocks that limit recruitment, and to invest further in training and education opportunities so that B.C. seniors can know the care will be there for them.”
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Rumana D’Souza
(778) 681-4859
rumana@bccare.ca
