IH says Broader Horizons scheduled for re-opening September
By Chris Stedile
It appears regular attendees of the Broader Horizons Adult Daycare Centre in Nelson will need to wait a little longer — at least another month — before the program returns to full operations.
Health Service Administrator for the Kootenay Boundary, Cheryl Whittleton recently told The Nelson Daily, “We’re confident we are going to re-open in September.
“We still have our position posted and have had applicants.”
Broader Horizons is an adult day centre the offers opportunities for seniors to enhance health, nutrition, socialization, independence and the enjoyment of life, in a supportive and safe environment.
The goal of the program is to supporting individuals to remain within their home and community.
The closure, which took many of those people depending on the programs offered at Broader Horizons by surprise, began June 30.
The shutdown came as a result of staffing shortages both expected and unexpected.
Whittleton said it’s not just employees taking time for themselves via vacations and the like that caused the issue.
“We did have one person resign and another staff member go off on medical leave,” Whittleton said. “Those are things that we can’t predict.”
Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie said she is confident in Interior Health’s ability to fill the shortages by the time they have stated — September — but the incident itself is troublesome.
“I have no reason to believe if they say it is going to open that it’s not,” she admitted, “I am concerned that it will be closed for two months.”
“Clearly, during those months, folks won’t be getting the day program support they need and the caregivers won’t be given the relief they find when somebody goes to a relief program,” Mackenzie added.
“I just hope Interior Health will have learned from this and deal with their staffing so this doesn’t happen again next Summer.”
Mackenzie said she is aware of the challenges facing health boards in the province, especially during the summer months.
However, the patrons don’t take summers off, so IH needs to be more creative in handling staff holidays.
“Staffing issues and shortages within the health care system are challenges that for some reason we are exacerbating during the summer months,” Mackenzie said.
“So we have to think better about how we’re going to staff, recognizing the demand on services doesn’t decrease in the summer just because the staff are going on vacation.”
Not to single out Interior Health, Mackenzie said health care is a constant demand and all health authorities need to do a better job staffing to ensure needs are met year round.
The Advocate said at this time she is not aware of any other facilities in the area that have been shut down for similar reasons.
Whittelton did add that Interior Health has a few applicants in their sites and has only to perform the necessary checks before making a final decision.
“We’re looking to re-open in September,” Whittelton said.
“As we’ve always said this is only a temporary closure, not a permanent one.”
