 Good afternoon. I'm Adrian Dix. I'm BC's minister of health and I want to start by Respectfully acknowledging and recognizing the territory of the Lekwungen speaking people the Songhees and the Esquimalt First Nations I'm very pleased to be in the press Theater of the legislature today with some special guests for a very important announcement that is I think Significant and very close to my heart and their hearts as well I wanted to say that Mabel Elmore the Parliamentary Secretary for senior services and long-term care and the MLA for Vancouver Kingsway Kingsway, I'm the MLA for Vancouver Kingsway, right? You're the MLA for Vancouver Kensington. That's really good Nola Galloway the president of the independent long-term care council's association of BC Kim Slater the founder of the family councils BC past founder and chair of Vancouver I owned Association of Family Councils and Heather Stuckey via Zoom Chairperson of the Interior Association of Family Councils. I I am very appreciative to have people here from all over including the office of the seniors representative and others who have worked on these issues over time I think the long-term care sector is Something that has been central in our thinking for this period of the pandemic people have genuinely Struggled I know this because we've had family members in long-term care personally and I know this because of the many discussions I've had in evenings with family members of long-term care who are expressed Sometimes their frustration and sense of loss that a critical time in their loved one's life during the pandemic They weren't allowed to visit or the circumstances that we've gone through together. I strongly believe I strongly believe that We need to respond To what happened in the pandemic in long-term care by measures to make things better that long-term care and Other forms of senior care, but particularly long-term care So much in the public mind a little while ago and not as much now in our discussion Should stay focused and that there is a debt owed and improvements that are required and need to be made the voices sometimes of people living in long-term care sometimes because of their circumstances I would say are discounted Sometimes their family members find their roles Limited and unable to influence things that are fundamental long-term care homes are not just health facilities Although they are They're also people's homes and we need to act that way as we would in people's homes whether it's in an apartment or a house Anywhere in BC We've of course taken a lot of steps in long-term care To improve staffing our age cap initiative. We promised 7,000 new hires in long-term care and In fall of 2020 and we've met that challenge and we will have passed the 7,000 number Before the end of this fiscal year, which is when we said we'd do it more than 6,500 both in the age cap program and in terms of infection control and other activities that have taken place we're building more long-term care beds in all parts of the province and We've moved to improve staffing levels to meet the provincial staffing levels that we all need to meet But this issue that we're addressing today that of the role of residents and the role of families In what goes on in long-term care facilities in particular Is is a central one and one that a lot of us have worked less and a lot of time thinking about But we have not Done that made the changes required to ensure that family's voice and Residence voice is fully heard and In many places of course many long-term care homes. That's not the case Residents voices are heard and you hear that but not everywhere not all the time and the role Has an element of the voluntary as opposed to the necessary and it is necessary So the person who's been working on this On behalf of the Ministry of Health the person who's been making this happen is my colleague from Vancouver Kensington The Parliamentary Secretary for senior services Mabel Elmore and it's my honor to introduce Mabel now to make the announcement Thank You Minister Today I'm honored to be here on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen people Known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees nations to talk about how we're taking another step to improve residential care in long-term care facilities for residents Many of whom are vulnerable seniors The pandemic has shown us how residents in seniors and long-term care homes are intrinsically more at risk of infectious diseases And how the weaknesses of our long-term care system such as workforce challenges Have implications for residents in their families In the past two years I've heard from constituents who are family members of seniors home residents people working in these facilities and advocates Who are asking for reform to the long-term care system? They've shared with me in valuable first-town experience Related to the long-term care homes and ideas for how to make things better Most important of all they wanted the government to take steps to address the concerns for the quality of life for residents in these facilities Where they call home? We agree that it's vital for government to make sure residents voice is Being heard when it comes to decisions about how the long-term care is operating to improve their quality of life To help overcome feelings of isolation and to give them a sense of family and a belonging to a community This is vitally critical With that in mind, I'm excited to announce that people living in long-term care homes and their family representatives Will have more input into issues that affect their daily lives as a result of changes To the residential care regulations relating to resident and family councils a Resident and our family council is a group of long-term care home residents and or their family members who meet regularly to promote the collective interests of residents and To discuss issues of concern Similarly like a strata that many are familiar with Councils may include residents family members and other representatives who act on behalf of residents We're doing this so people can be more involved and Those with lived experience can be at the table when it comes to promoting quality of life Resolving problems that arise and providing input to the management of the long-term care home Currently some families may feel they're not able to participate in a council Because they live in another community and cannot easily attend in person They may not also fully understand their rights and entitlements in long-term care That is about to change The provincial government will strengthen support for councils through a number of measures This includes requiring operators to meet more frequently with a council As well as ensuring councils can have opportunities to meet with operators when preferred Additionally health authorities will oversee the formation of new regional resident family councils These regional councils will have representation from individual councils and will meet to discuss systemic issues and share information These networks will meet at least twice annually to share information and discuss issues with residents and families As well the ministry of health will continue to engage with health authorities the BC care providers association and the denominational health association About how to enhance the councils so there is increased communication and collaboration within all licensed long-term care homes The province is also ensuring facility operators collaborate with councils for the common good of all residents And that there are opportunities for them to learn from each other about what works well What challenges they face and how they can best collaborate to resolve issues And there's more The ministry of health will lead a provincial committee with representatives from each regional network to focus on addressing provincial level issues This new approach will ensure increased collaboration and communication And ensure members have more access to support information and can have open and frank conversations about their experiences This is so important And I think this is good news for people who are in care homes and their families and I look forward to watching this progress As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech that I've had the opportunity to talk to people around bc About these issue about this issue And the minister mentioned in reference the many families and residents that he's talked to have also had the opportunity to meet families there was During COVID-19 we would visit Outside of care homes to show support for health care providers at at 7 p.m and also hearing from family members about just the difficulties and challenges of providing a care and comfort to their loved ones in care homes and the real need and desire to be part of The equation and to really contribute to ensuring that the quality of life for their loved ones Is uh is enhanced So today's announcement is a result of the input from community members The seniors advocate and our personal experiencing experiences supporting our loved ones in long-term care homes during the pandemic It's also a result of the hard work of minister dicks and staff in the ministry of health In conclusion Making sure residents in long-term care homes have the best quality of life possible is a priority for our government And i want to take this moment to pass along a couple of very specific thank-yous To members of the independent long-term care councils association of bc Thanks for your uh steadfast advocacy They were previously known as family councils of bc And to the members that belong to the action for reform of residential care association Commonly known as arc bc Thank you for your comprehensive your unending advocacy and your participation to make this a reality All you've been passionate on this matter and for that we are very appreciative We listened And we took action We also respect your role as valued partners And we look forward to taking the next steps in this critical project We know that resident and family councils have an equal stake ensuring that residents and loved ones in long-term care homes are adequately supported that they're part of the care team and that with this announcement We recognize their important role and look forward to continuing to build a long-term care system ensuring that our seniors receive the quality of care that they deserve If they live in their homes if they live in community if they live in long-term care homes And so to this our government is committed and i'm very pleased To announce the additional support for resident and family councils to ensure that they participate fully In building a quality of care for seniors in our long-term care system. Thank you Thank you very much Mabel and I think This issue is one of agency That people need to have One of the reasons one of the things we've advocated for a long time prior to becoming Government as MLA's was changes to the first available bed policy and those changes were made And they're very few times That I have received on a particular issue So much so many people coming up to me most recently in a savon foods On main street in vancouver and saying that change meant the world to people giving people in a system which does not provide much control And where our circumstances are diminished More control and more voice is a necessary step to both reform of the system But also to treating people as we would all want them to be treated And we've had I think and benefited in this area from strong advocacy From from family councils across bc existing family councils and groups of family council organizations Who've worked often with the seniors advocate in the office of the seniors advocate To to demand And indeed seek the very changes we're talking about today And so it's a real honor for me to introduce nola galloway president of the independent long-term care council's association of bc nola Thank you. Mr. Dex Hello, my name is nola galloway My journey in the long-term care system began when my dad entered care in 2009 Within a year joined by other families from our care facility. We established an independent family council I believe that independent family councils are essential contributors to collective efforts Aimed at improving quality of care and quality of life for long-term care residents The covet experience heightened the importance of long-term care residents and their families having a guaranteed voice In decisions that affect them Families felt helpless as decisions were being made that tremendously impacted them and their loved ones in care Yet they had zero input into those decisions In early 2021 Under the leadership of kim slater a long time advocate working to empower the voice of residents and families family council members from independent family councils across bc banded together First establishing an association of family councils in every region of bc And then establishing a provincial association family councils of bc in early 2022 Their purpose being to collaborate with the health authorities and the ministry of health by bringing forward members Member councils experiences concerns and recommendations to be discussed and addressed the provincial association Just recently incorporated under the legal entity of independent long-term care councils association of bc Not having detailed ministry of health protocols in place to encourage and support independent family councils has made it challenging For independent councils to be as effective as they could be But the initiative today Should alleviate some of those previous challenges We express our gratitude to minister dicks and parliamentary secretary naval elmore and to the ministry of health For enhancing and strengthening independent resident and family councils to elevate their voice Creating avenues for residents and families and then their voices elevated not only to the long-term care home operator But also to the health authority and the ministry of health As the president of the independent long-term care councils association of bc and on behalf of our members We look forward to working collaboratively with the ministry of health as a valued and essential stakeholder In the long-term care sector The announcement today will resonate Profoundly with all those who have been calling for a guaranteed voice for long-term care residents and their families for years Thank you So nola gave kim some hype. So that's good news. That's good news. We're and so it's uh, I think it's fair to say that um, and I just say this from both personal experience And from uh, the experience that many people have talked to me that when a family member is in long-term care Whether before the pandemic or now one's bandwidth for advocacy Is a more limited And it's been people like kim slater that have made a real difference Not just in the achieving what is being achieved today But in bringing people together and giving people other people hope And giving other people examples of what they can do To have a voice in their community and in their family's long-term care home and to give residents a voice as well And so it's a real honor to introduce kim slater Thank you very much for your kind words This initiative has a potential to be a game changer for residents in long-term care And uh, so I'd like to begin by thanking minister dex And uh parliamentary secretary elmore And the director is embedded within the ministry who have been working with us to bring about this change Um, thanks also to isabel mckenzie who has worked very hard Uh to support our efforts and our goals And also to key researchers Who toil away, uh in our case from uvc from uvic from sf u from york university Who have informed us about best practices in long-term care Um, but also about the uh tremendous importance of independent family councils and regional associations I've been learning from them for 20 years And um that has in fact informed the ask that we've made of the ministry of health Also many thanks to the bc care providers association who have committed to creating guidelines New guidelines for their membership in order to um align with these new ministry regulations and policies But why do I say game changer? Because historically groups that have had a voice in decisions that are policy decisions that impact on long-term care Have included the ministry of health, of course health authorities Workers unions and of course service providers But now the very people who are actually Experiencing long-term care up close and personal Will have a uh guaranteed independent collective voice In policy decisions that are impacting on them Um finally and to wrap up Um, I know that the implement with the implementation of this initiative there may be policy tweaks Um or small resources that are That are Necessary to make this new voice the best possible version of itself Uh to make sure that it's an independent voice that is both um Sought and heard by all other stakeholders Um, and the thing is that voice can bring a perspective that's often different than those stakeholders So we must make sure this happens and i'm excited to see it happen over the over the coming years. Thank you very much Now we're going to show how flexible we are and we want to thank as well. I talked to Isabel McKenzie last night. This is something that we've looked at a long time bruce. I got a chance to talk to her She's she's doing well by the way She's doing well and uh And uh, and she would have very much liked to be here today as bruce is on behalf of the office, but she's um She's obviously a strong advocate and supporter for this and uh, and that's expressed in the news release But it's also expressed in years of work on these issues and we're really Delighted with Isabelle's with her support and of course her ongoing role Now we get to do something we get to show how technology hip Uh, I am Not really but the staff working with us. We're going to hold on um, Heather Stucky via zoom Who's the chairperson who played a really important leadership role, particularly in the interior of bc I'm so we're so Honored that you're able to join us and be part of this today heather. So via zoom heather stuck your association of family councils over to you heather Thank you honorable honorable minister dick And parliamentary secretary miss elmore for the opportunity to speak here today These new regulations announced today enhancing the lines of communication between family councils the health authority And the ministry of health are incredibly welcome for those of us involved in family councils I cannot stress enough the importance of every facility across bc establishing their own independent self-led council to give our long-term care residents The voice they deserve to enable them to deliver opinions and ideas on what is working and what is not in their own homes My mother was a resident of long-term care for six years and after a lapse with the help of two other family members We reestablished a resident and family council in her facility The process of entering into long-term care can be a huge learning care can be a huge learning curve for families and residents In the past there's been very little support at the move-in stage This is something family council can help with so that the transition isn't quite In my personal experience I plunged into family council as a response to several upsetting Incidences that my mom's long-term care facility I quickly found it to be very rewarding to be part of the family council Not only did I meet other families who were able to give give me advice and support based on similar lived experience But I found I was able to forge a more positive relationship with the management staff of the facility It is important that we understand the challenges that the operators of long-term care facilities face and offer ideas and solutions to those challenges Operators in turn need to trust that families and friends want to help solve problems and make life as enriched as possible for residents When operators and family councils come together and find solutions they can share the successes of their collaboration We need to all work together as a team We all know that a huge obstacle right now is the shortage of employees So the help that families and volunteers can offer in a long-term care home are fast becoming invaluable Let's get the message out just how rewarding it is to spread love and kindness to those residents Who have suffered suffered loneliness and boredom during the pandemic Communication communication Which minister Dixon his team has enhanced with this new legislation Will give residents and family councils tools to ensure that all long-term care homes Are interpreting the rules and suggestions the same way so that all residents and their families will be assured They are all getting the same message And support I would quickly like to know legality legality and isabel mckenzie careless efforts in establishing independent long-term council's association of vc Along with the five regional associations and family councils And of course minister dick and the ministry of health A great congratulations to everyone involved well done Thank you Thank you very much heather and thank you to everyone involved in the in this in this venture. I think I think it's fair to say that I believe That the involvement of people means better care and it sometimes means challenging Authorities and that's okay. That's what needs to happen That's what we would expect in any other venue and having these regulations in place To protect people's opportunities to have voice to protect people's access to information to ensure the independence of family councils And to promote people working together Uh, makes a lot of sense because long overdue we're doing it now And I think this is a good moment to do that and with that all of us are happy to take your questions A reminder to reporters on the line, please press star one to enter the queue You will be limited to one question and one follow-up We are going to start with questions in the room today. First question comes from richard's osman global news Heather spoke there while the critical issues during the pandemic, which was this inconsistency We saw between care homes around interpreting some of the visitation rules In terms of these changes that come into place. What assurances are there? That the province will make sure that the rules are followed consistently based on what families are saying And extending that beyond we hope that we don't get into a situation again Like coven where in essence long-term care residents are separated from their families, but Families would raise concerns about that through these councils. What ensures that you are actually listening And doing what these families are raising their concerns about well, um, first of all, it's a law That um information must be shared the councils must meet There are councils in a majority of care homes, but not in all care homes now So this ensures first of all The resident and the family council voice in the activity of the care home And that's critically important as it would be in anybody's home as you can imagine whether you're a tenant Whether you're a condominium owner, whether you're a homeowner Whatever you're whether you're part of a co-op whatever your circumstances We all should want and expect voice in our own homes And so this ensures that that voice is heard And it's heard strongly and that we're supporting family councils and their role is recognized in the system Of course It doesn't mean that every time an issue is raised it goes a particular way But that's not the case But up to now I think this has been seen as an extra Where there's a care home operator that's interested in it works well and when Families have to advocate a great deal. It works well And one of the challenges and I'll ask kim to speak about this as well. I think is that often people's sense of One's capacity to advocate is Is denied through impediments that are not necessary This means advocacy always ends in a result But what it means is people will have to listen including ministers of health But most importantly operators of a given care home listen to the residents who live there Ensure that they have a voice ensure that they have agency and that those who love them also have agency I think that's an important change. It reflects. I think At least a little bit my reflection of things we've learned in the pandemic Which is that not just that we Have long-term care homes that keep people safe That of course is a given in its necessity But we also have to live our best lives even when Our health lets us down and we have to be in long-term care And it's particularly important in circumstances of long-term care where many people are dealing with Alzheimer's and other Dementia's and where their family members are their voice In the in an exchange, but it's not just that group of people I I would argue this provides for residents and for family members a real role An established role when established in the law It would be our expectation and I believe we have the support Of long-term care home operators in this and some of whom are the ministry of health but in the Private and nonprofit sector as well. And I think that's a very positive thing. I'll hand it over to kim Maybe to talk about some of the experiences of the next one Oh I'm I'm glad you asked the question actually and COVID does provide us with a good example When the when the crisis hit us all, you know, people were scrambling and so on and Minister dicks and The ministry of health implemented programs I can't remember the name of it that were designed to try to keep Facilities as sterile as possible What was lacking at that time though was a formalized mechanism for them to ask families look what what do you think about the situation? What do you folks need? And now that that that's in place Having this formal kind of relationship between the family voice and the ministry of health and health authorities and the facility They can say well look We've been in During the panda or prior to the pandemic helping our our residents our loved ones by feeding and dressing and and all of this kind of Thing historically in the past And we can't do that anymore. So what's what's going to happen to them? So now that we have that voice we can sort of provide that heads up that look this needs to be attended to And you were witness to of course all these stories of you know, loneliness isolation despair that happened as a result of it And that's why this this move is is a really good move for the well-being of residents even during things like covid Does that make sense? Follow up Richard One of the inherent challenges obviously is around staffing and you know, we'll see how families respond to this But one of the issues that you may hear time and time again is around A lack of staffing. I know that the system it's a challenge. So how do you address issues that families may raise That are systemic that may not be something that can be solved. Well, I think um, I think by addressing them You know this and it's a real it's a comparison point. I mean we heard we hear some of this debate sometimes I mean, I think It was a betrayal of families That 88 percent of care homes didn't meet the province's own standards when I became minister of health in terms of staffing It was a betrayal Those tenders have been set in 2008 and nine years later They'd made no progress and the person who brought attention to that most particularly including workers and and some family councils Was isabel mccancer and we may took action to change that and you know what it is today Every health authority Exceeds that average significantly everyone and our care homes are funded for staffing and get staffing You see the increase in the amount of people working in long-term care reflects that so that was advocacy, right? It was advocacy in that case Previous opposition, but also by the hospital employees union and others to ensure that the province doesn't say their standards But meets those standards and we did that before the pandemic and thankfully we did Right, so that's point point one and it's an important one Secondly, we have taken exceptional action even extraordinary action with the age cap program To find more health care workers such that we promised In advance of october 2020 7000 health care workers right age cap infection control and have delivered to date. I believe 6700 Which is pretty impressive in a time of labor challenges and other challenges thirdly We took action on staffing Where we had we had a huge number of people working in long-term care homes working for poverty wages So we eliminated bill 29 and 94 as you will know But also in the pandemic and the single site order came in Raise the raise the wages of those who are not in the facilities bargaining association To the tune by the way of 165 million dollars a year So that they would not be working poverty wages Can you imagine if we hadn't done that the impact on those residents who work in some Private and not-for-profit long-term care homes, so we raise people up All of those have made a significant difference and I would expect A stronger voice for family councils will be a stronger voice for advocacy And we see this often in children families as well The very confidentiality of the system is used to To stop changes in the system that are necessary And that's why we've taken these actions and on this question There is a compare and contrast and the action that had been taken have been I think Exceptional and required of course significant public investment Our next question from the room comes from bender sergeant ctv I'm just wondering the seniors advocate does a survey Long-term care residents and I'm just wondering what information you think he would get From these council that might be different than what's in that survey I think there are limitations to the survey. I'm going to ask Mabel to speak to this In a moment because she's been working on these issues I think the survey is important In that it reaches out to individual Family members but surveys come once a year And that report reflects just what I said and answered the previous question that We've made exceptional progress for example on staffing And you look at those surveys year into year and you see that progress and no one can argue with it No one that even some of the people I can think of can't argue with it, right? It just happened So those surveys are important. The work of the seniors advocate is important on a broad range of issues But I think where family councils are important and I'm going to ask Mabel and Nola to speak to this as well Is to raise issues that occur in both particular care homes So yes broad issues such as are raised in the survey and raised by the seniors advocate on a regular basis Such as the staffing issue I referred to earlier But also issues in advocacy at the care homes themselves That that are critical people's voice feels locked out and especially when there are not a lot of options I talked about first available bed But prior in 2017 in no choice of what care home you could go to you had to take the first available bed And often families were locked out of the process of consultation Well, that is not what one would expect at any other time in one's life And now when in a period when for whatever reason one's in long-term care But partly because one's health has failed one that the basic voice that you have In the running of your life has taken away. So this is an important change I would like to ask Mabel and then Nola to speak to that Thanks in addition to the importance of the annual survey from The seniors advocate The distinctive role and opportunity for These family resident councils at every long-term care home. So we have about 300 care homes approximately 250 have some sort of Structure in place but you know in terms of the starting point we need to assess that And this is also why there's a commitment to resource and also support Each long-term care home to develop their own Resident and family council to get that up and running and fundamentally to have an opportunity For them to bring forward Concerns at that local level as well the changes that we're implementing in resourcing are So to facilitate each individual care home to develop their own resident family council But also for them to work together in a regional structure so that they can meet They can share resources share experiences best practices find out what's going on and also learn from each other And then facilitated through a provincial network With the support in infrastructure as well as the health authorities for the opportunity to identify systemic issues and also raise that to the ministry of health So, you know, we need to ascertain what what is going on in each of the the long-term care homes and To raise it to the regional and also provincial levels Further to the question you asked about the survey and it's a good question I give you an example of how family councils can contribute to that in the most recent plan to build new more effective surveys Isabel Mackenzie invited myself and another part of the executive team from our provincial association to contribute ideas they would make the survey a better instrument and So we participated with other stakeholders and it was very very clear that we brought something to the table that would not have otherwise being considered Questions that would glean important information, you know as they go out with her survey And even how the survey is conducted So so family councils can play an important part of that very important project as well Follow-up bender Okay, we have time question from the phones. Dave Natalie news 1130 for the final question Hello, good afternoon. My name my question is for minister dicks I know there's quite a few issues in the long-term care right now and especially facing bc seniors in general There's been a recent study from Statistics canada that found that bc seniors were one of the largest groups in canada to report not having prescription insurance to cover their medication costs and in general bc is having Many residents are struggling to get insurance to cover their medication and so I just wanted to ask you How can the province better support seniors many who live in long-term care who may be struggling to keep up with their medication costs? well, it's I would say that that's less an issue in long-term care Where there's coverage there's a particular plan under pharma care in long-term care Then it is generally in the population and here's how we've done it in in February of 2008 We proposed and made changes to pharma care deductibles there's always a lot of talk about a national pharma care program and and I hope that it will happen in my time in elected office that initiative from the federal government But we made fundamental changes to our pharma care system in 2018 to eliminate deductibles and maximums And reduce maximums for many british columbians in fact tens of thousands of them and they're primarily seniors because it's primarily Seniors who would go up to their deductibles such that if you were a senior With a net family income of 26,000, which is not unheard of as my friends in the in the Seniors advocate office here will know If you're earning 26,000 dollars, you would be paying on your deductible the first 750 dollars Of your pharma care costs every year now 750 dollars Is a lot for anybody and if your net family income is 26,000 it's really a lot And so for that group of people and up to 30,000 We eliminated that deductible and that makes an enormous difference in the lives of people So expanding our pharma care program focusing in on issues And covering things that are not otherwise covered and have not been otherwise covered are key elements of what you do So that was a progressive way The principal beneficiaries was were seniors the value of that program at the beginning was 105 million dollars It obviously grows out over time and it makes and it were the first changes of the pharma care program that had taken place at that time Since the creation of what would sometimes called fair pharma care in 2003 So I think that's how you do it by making a pharma care program that delivers for seniors And one and delivers for all people and especially Makes improvement for those who can least afford prescription drugs and what we found just so we understand And what the difference it made was this if you look at The the income of someone and their adherence to a prescription which depends on their ability to pay for the prescription It was that group of people where there was a gap And so by eliminating deductibles we eliminated that gap that meant People who were following their prescription regimes and staying healthier So it potentially has other savings for the health care system But more importantly than anything else when you get a prescription you should be able to fill it and use it to stay healthier David do you have a follow-up? No follow-up. Thank you Thank you very much that concludes today's event. Thank you very much everybody and thank you to everyone We're going to get we're going to take a picture Yes, next door Gotta love the picture taking next door. We're taking a picture next door