CANADA: Deeply Unsettling Allegations Of Elder Abuse in Nursing Home

VANCOUVER (The Province), October 8, 2007: This is a time t consider the dignity of our senior citizens. This Thanksgiving, fortunate families across British Columbia are gathered to celebrate the love and affection they share. We have much to be thankful for in this blessed province, but, as we were reminded last week, our paradise can be a flawed one for some of our more vulnerable citizens. We refer to the deeply unsettling allegations of abuse against some elderly residents of the 80-bed Beacon Hill Villa, a seniors' nursing home in Victoria. Last week, the New Democratic Party put Health Minister George Abbott on the defensive by detailing complaints of alleged negligence and abuse at the Villa dating back to 2002. The home is operated by Retirement Concepts, a private firm that also operates 10 other seniors' homes in the province. The allegations of abuse at Beacon Hill Villa are serious: Seniors were allegedly left soaking in their own urine or had water poured on them to get them to change their clothes. Both Abbott and his boss, Premier Gordon Campbell, have issued soothing statements about the need to take such allegations seriously. Abbott has given a general warning that any nursing home operator that wants to do business in B.C. had better observe their quality-of-care requirements -- or else lose their contracts. In the case of Beacon Hill Villa, the Vancouver Island Health Authority has taken the rare step of appointing a public administrator with "sweeping powers" to run the facility for the next six months. This is a wise precaution. Nothing is more repugnant to society than the idea of defenceless senior citizens exposed to abuse at the hands of their fellow humans. © The Vancouver Province 2007