With news that the Berwick on the Park seniors home in Kamloops will be closing a long-term care facility, the BC Care Providers Association is speaking out about training for care aides.
Daniel Fontaine says one issue is the registry for care aides in B.C., and the hurdles those workers face who move here from out of province.
“It costs you about $800 to take a test. There’s a one per cent pass rate for that test, which means that so many people have to retake the test and pay for that. There’s lost wages. We’re estimating that by the time you actually come into the province and you are registered to be able to work as a care aide, you can lose about $27,000 in wages,” Fontaine says.
“It’s simply crazy, the system that we have got in place right now in terms of all the burdens and hurdles that are put in place for all the people who want to work as care aides and are trained in places like Alberta. They can’t even come in to work in the Interior Health Authority.”
Fontaine points out Berwick in Kamloops is a private care home, but says the staffing concerns it is facing are similar to a public facility.