Officials with the health authority that runs Squamish's Hilltop House are trying to resolve an issue involving new smoking rules at the elder care facility and a local man who smokes to allow him to continue attending regular part-time care there.
Shirley Brown, whose husband Bill had been attending a day care program two days a week at Hilltop House, on Friday (Feb. 4) said he stopped going there in mid-January after staff at the facility told him he would have to go off the property to smoke.
Bill Brown, 80, was diagnosed with dementia four years ago and had been attending a day program at Hilltop until recently, Shirley Brown said. In the past, residents and day patients who smoked were allowed to do so while seated in padded armchairs along a covered outdoor walkway, she said.
Since the new policy came into effect, though, the Browns have been told that if Mr. Brown wishes to smoke, he'll have to do it off the property, usually down the hill in a location that's exposed to the elements, where staff members often go to smoke, Shirley Brown said.
She said she's not comfortable with that situation because of safety concerns.
"I think it's kind of important because my husband can't go to daycare and I can't get a respite or go on holiday," she said.
Gavin Wilson, a spokesperson for Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which runs Hilltop House and other elder care facilities in the region, on Monday (Feb. 6) said the new "smoke-free" policy first came into effect about three years ago in response to concerns about the health and welfare of patients and staff.
In a letter printed in The Province newspaper on Monday in response to an article about the issue, Dr. Patricia Daly, VCH chief medical health officer, wrote that after the policy first came into effect, "we granted outdoor smoking exemptions for a number of care homes in recognition of their concerns."
After two years, officials at some care facilities requested a further one-year exemption. That extension was also granted, Daly wrote.
The few residents and day patients who still smoke aren't being forced to quit, Daly wrote. "VCH's goal is to assist residents in reducing their tobacco dependancy we work with residents and their families to find alternatives to smoking and ensure they are getting the support they need."
While the goal is to make all VCH residential care facilities smoke-free by May 31, "we are aware that some may require more time," Daly wrote.
Shirley Brown said that while she would like her husband to quit smoking, it's a difficult task for him. She said officials in both the Fraser Health and Island Health regions continue to allow residents in their elder care facilities to smoke outside, on the property.
"This [Hilltop] is our facility and it should meet the community's needs, but as it is now, I think the message is, 'Butt out or get out,'" she said.
Wilson, though, said the fact that one full-time Hilltop House resident is being allowed to smoke outside on the property for the time being shows that officials are trying to be flexible.
"We sympathize with seniors and we know it's not easy, but we do work with them to reduce their smoking," he said.
"We're hopeful that we can come to a resolution with this gentleman [Mr. Brown] to allow him to attend the day program."
