Wexford Creek care home in Nanaimo lays off entire staff
More than 150 employees ranging from nurses to care aides, received pink slips Friday
A seniors-care home on Vancouver Island is laying off its entire staff thanks to what the facility's operator calls years of chronic underfunding from the region's health authority.
More than 150 employees at Wexford Creek Care Home in Nanaimo, B.C., ranging from nurses to care aides, received pink slips on Friday.
"Our members who work at Wexford Creek are very, very upset," said Mike Old with the Hospital Employees Union.
"Not just about their own economic security, the loss of their jobs, but the impact that this is going to have on the residents of the facility and their families."
There is a 150-resident capacity at the facility, where services range from complex care to private, assisted living.
A statement from the centre's operator, the Edmonton-based Good Samaritan Society, says the care home reported $2.6 million in losses over the past eight years.
The statement says Wexford Creek will be sold to an unnamed third party, which will be responsible for hiring its own workers, and that staffing changes will not affect residents' quality of care.
Two years ago, the same facility terminated 122 positions, which Good Samaritan Society President and CEO Shawn Terlson says was due to similar funding concerns from the Island Health Authority.