by Leonardo Rezende

Victoria, BC – The “All Hands On Deck Community Healthcare Workshop” was hosted by the Saunders Family Foundation and Thrive Victoria at the Olympic View Golf Club in Colwood on Thursday, January 26.

Guest speakers outlined the lack of primary care physicians or long-term care beds in growing communities like Colwood and Langford, indicating that staffing levels of healthcare and emergency workers are not being met by current attraction and retainment efforts, and that local governments, businesses and community organizations may be able to help.

“Tonight, we’re not pointing fingers. We’re focusing on solutions and local actions that we can take to support our hardworking healthcare and emergency personnel,” said Mark Holland, of Westplan Consulting Group and host of the workshop. Holland and Dave Saunders, president of the Saunders Family Foundation, have teamed up with Scott Bradford, executive director of Thrive, and with the support of the BC Ministry of Health will be creating a “playbook” of solutions for communities wanting to take action to attract and retain healthcare and emergency workers.

The event brought together a wide range of professionals, including nurses and physicians, government representatives, real estate developers, and members of health and social service organizations. Participants were asked to reflect and engage with one another and to write all ideas down in a workbook. The meeting hosts promised that every word written by participants would be read and considered for the project.

“What we are proposing is not about privatizing healthcare. We are suggesting a strategy be developed to make BC’s public healthcare system the best in Canada,” said Saunders. “We want to create a plan that will help West Shore communities, and eventually all BC communities, come together to create a supportive environment in which our healthcare system and its employees can thrive.”

The insights gained from the workshop will be fundamental in developing the pilot project’s playbook, which aims to be a reference tool for addressing healthcare issues at the local level in BC communities.

For more information, links to newly released reports, and to see the evening’s presentation slides please visit the website at healthywestshore.ca.

Contact: Dave Saunders, Saunders Family Foundation

Phone:  250-213-9407

Email: saund@telus.net

See the presentation here

Read the full report here.

It was a busy summer, with interest and enthusiasm growing for our work on the Community Healthcare Support (CHS) Network Pilot Project and finally further news for the WestShore Elder Care Advocacy Network (WECAN).

The primary focus has been on gaining traction for the pilot project, where we continue to receive stories and valuable input from throughout the healthcare space, all serving to reinforce the fact that our integrated community approach appears to be resonating with people at the pointy end of primary care. We all agree that it’s time to take action to move us from siloes to synergies as we work together to remedy the “Crisis Call In” across our healthcare system.

Part of the outreach has included conversations with the various elected officials who have contacted our team since the release of our CHSN Pilot Project Proposal, including from Central Saanich. And on September 7, 2022, Dave Saunders and Mark Holland briefly appeared before a meeting of Central Saanich Council, which voted unanimously to bring the Official Community Plan-related elements of the Community Healthcare Support Network forward as their council continues work to complete the review of their Official Community Plan.

Interest and support for this work is coming from the broader community as well, from private citizens to business leaders and Chambers of Commerce, all eager to advance a grassroots plan of action that puts more of the public back in public health.

Thank you to everyone who is stepping up to seize this moment of change with us. It’s time to embrace positive change and move beyond politics and fully into authentic leadership. The world is changing, and so must we. It’s time for community and collaboration, and that is what this work is all about. Please read on.

Throughout August, the Saunders Family Foundation/HealthyWestShore team worked closely with the Westshore Primary Care Society, Thrive Social Services, and M’akola Housing Society to brief Premier John Horgan and Minister of Children and Family Development Mitzi Dean on further details of the feasibility study we see unfolding in general partnership with the South Island Primary Care Network (PCN). That briefing was followed-up by another meeting on September 28th with senior representatives of the Ministry of Health, where Dave Saunders, together with planner Mark Holland and Scott Bradford (Thrive Social Services), provided a fuller overview of our plan to help interested BC communities transition toward a new Community-led Health Centre model for primary care. The meeting went well, and we are looking forward to taking the next steps.

The Saunders Family Foundation also teamed up with The Village Initiative in August to develop a Public Engagement Campaign to Get Out the Vote and ask local candidates to demonstrate their commitment to health and social planning in their municipalities ahead of the October election. See who’s signed the pledge.

News was finally received last week on the Long-term Care Facility proposed for Colwood’s Royal Bay. The Capital Region Hospital District (CRHD) approved provisional funding in the amount of $3,806,100 for 2023 (about 1.8% of the project’s total estimated price tag of $205 million (in 2021 dollars). The CRHD is expected to eventually provide 30% of the project’s total funding or about $67,108,200, but they are not the primary funder or approver. Island Health requires BC Government funding (usually 70%) and approval before the project can proceed to next steps, including receiving public input on the design and final program of services to be provided at the facility. But we do know from Island Health that the Royal Bay facility must be used for long-term care beds and associated infrastructure, whether that will exclusively focus on dementia care evidently has yet to be determined.

Of growing concern despite the outcome of the Royal Bay project, is the fact that by the time the facility is built, our community will still be playing catch-up, like what we saw with the construction of Royal Bay Secondary, where an addition was required almost immediately. Since this is a very real possibility, the Saunders Family Foundation has again contracted with Westbridge Group Valuation Partner to provide an updated demographic analysis of the West Shore’s demand for long-term and hospice care capacity. Westbridge is the leading provider of appraisal and consulting services to the seniors housing and health care industry in Western Canada. In 2019, the Saunders Family Foundation funded the Service-Enriched Seniors Housing Report, which demonstrated the growing need for facilities to serve the wellness needs of our community’s seniors, including accessible hospice beds for the people of the West Shore. When the updated report is available, it will be shared and discussed again with the WestShore Elder Care Advocacy Network (WECAN). We hope this new information will be available prior to the October municipal election.

A meeting was also held in August with the Western Communities Seniors Low Cost Housing Society (owner/operator of Langford’s Alexander Mackie Lodge), to explore ways of working together as non-profit facilities struggle to continue to support seniors as the cost of living becomes an increasingly serious concern. Further discussions are planned.