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.
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.
Terlson wrote at the time in a memo to staff that future job opportunities would be offered with "significantly reduced compensation."
The last day of work for current employees is Sept. 30. (Chek News, Global)
