An administrator has been appointed by Interior Health’s board of directors to manage the day-to-day long-term care operations of Summerland Seniors Village.
The appointment is full time and effective immediately for a period of six months, subject to adjustments if conditions warrant.
The board’s decision was based on a recommendation from Dr. Sue Pollock, chief medical health officer, Interior Health.
“I strongly support the decision by the Interior Health board of directors to appoint an administrator,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “We have and will continue to put the care and safety of seniors first before any other consideration, which is what is happening here.”
After numerous site visits by staff from Interior Health licensing and quality, Pollock determined that the operator of the long-term care facility was unable to meet the legislated standards of care for residents.
“Ensuring that seniors living in publicly funded, long-term care are receiving the high quality, safe and dignified care they need and deserve is Interior Health’s top priority and is at the heart of this decision,” said Dr. Doug Cochrane, board chair, Interior Health.
The chief medical health officer’s recommendation was informed by the findings of a diligent and thorough process, including a significant amount of support provided to the site by Interior Health.
Pollock said despite efforts over many months, the operator was still not meeting expectations defined in the provincial Community Care and Assisted Living Act.
Summerland Seniors Village has ongoing challenges with its site leadership, care planning, staff education and training, and reporting.
The administrator will be responsible for the operation and management of the care home, and supporting critical functions, including:
- care planning and delivery;
- site management;
- staff recruitment, orientation and education;
- developing and implementing policies and procedures;
- overall compliance with the legislated standards of care; and
- reporting to the Interior Health board chair.
Vanda Urban, an experienced health-care leader with expertise in long-term care, will serve as the administrator. Urban has worked in health care for 35 years, 21 of them in long-term care in B.C. She has been in leadership roles with Interior Health for 14 years, most recently as director of long-term care. Urban also worked as a nurse in long-term care in both publicly owned and contracted provider care homes.
Urban is also familiar with Summerland Seniors Village and was directly involved in recent quality reviews at the site.
Summerland Seniors Village is a privately owned, long-term care home operated by West Coast Seniors Housing Management, which manages the Retirement Concepts group of companies.
Summerland Seniors Village has 112 long-term care beds. Interior Health publicly funds 75 of the beds. Twelve beds are currently closed to admissions.
West Coast Seniors Housing Management operates two other long-term care facilities in Interior Health – one in Kamloops and one in Williams Lake. Interior Health does not have similar quality or licensing concerns with these sites.
In 2013, an administrator was appointed at Summerland Seniors Village for four months when the facility was under different ownership.