- Enter. a 40-unit supportive care com-
Q ‘plex ¢ on the scene, though,.and everything —

eos changes, from the health.of;the taxpayer's

wallet to the personal independence, well
being of the "patient". “ey

- ..: This is the Health Care: Society's con-
cept: ‘a housing facility specifically designed

for those in need of intermediary health '

care services. Something closer to living in

an apartment than living in an institution,

a: place where the resident is still inte- -

grated and involved in the community. -
_The cost per resident has be estimated

5 He :

_ portive, Housing which. can he. provided for
less than $10 per day. - etd ht
"Supportive Housing ‘will also delay the
construction of expensive continuing care’
beds at the Terraceview: Lodge. site. Every
year that construction of institutional beds
can be delayed saves the: ‘Province. another
$1: million in- construction.,-costs and
$750,000 in annual operating costs.” .°:
‘And with those financial’ benefits there
are other gains: "One of the. strengths. of
this proposal is the site’s- proximity to
Terraceview Lodge, our 76 bed continuing

care facility. The ‘tenants of»Supportive

Housing will have the comfort. of. knowing
that help is just across the prop-
‘erty in case of medical need.

"The tenants will also be able
to purchase laundry services from:
‘the Lodge, purchase” ‘meals * -as
required and otherwise. participate
in the activities of the ‘Lodge ona
“fee for service basis. Thesé
revenues in addition to.an annual
operating grant from. ‘government
of $150,000 will allow :the Society
to operate the Supportive Housing
site on a self sustaining basis." :
And a.bonus:."The .board will -
also encourage | active: tenant. par-
ticipation in the planning, operat-
‘ing and management of the site
with the direct reporting | to. the .
Board of Trustees through : the
_ monthly Supportive Housing com--
- mittee." . wk
”. Still... We wait. Why? Because

The Willows: greater independence, less assistance.

4 in. 1 Mills Memorial | Hospital.
+... Some simple arithmetic, and you can

seats view these numbers in a what is perhaps a

. tore meaningful light. How about $400 a.
+ day compared to $4,000 or $16,000 a day?
‘. How-about $12,000 a month. rather than
' $120,000 or $480,000 a month? How about
. $144,000 a year instead of $1.44 million or
$5. 76 million a year?-
..These numbers. only leave one logical
vention: "What are we waiting for?"
‘Still... We wait.
~The Health Care. Society, in the pre-

pene amble to-their year-old submission to
., » BCHMC, point out the following facts: "We

- conservatively estimate that $1 million per
year of health care funding is being used in
a sub optimal way due to the lack of Sup- -

Terrace Review — May 15, 1992

Victoria can't . decide whether : to

_ take the money out of the left
pocket orthe right. ©. |: .

. You might like to calculate how
many taxpayer dollars have been inappro-*
priately invested in the health care system
since the March 21, 1990, submission to
BCHMC. You may, however, ‘run into; §
little difficulty here.

In, their preamble, the society states:

"There is a demonstrated need for this type

' of seniors’ housing and the project enjoys -
widespread community, support. We are

‘convinced of the merits of this proposal —

both ona social need basis and also c on the
numerics." ;
A fair statement, but lacking: a few
necessary teeth. The need at. that point
- was based on the number of Mills Memor:- .
ial patients and Terraceview residents who
should really be living in a supportive
‘housing complex, -