NO one can read the details of Eldon Mooney's death, reported on today's front page, without being horrified. Suffering from a variety of mental and physical ailments, he was accidentally asphyxiated by an incompetent orderly at a Lynn Valley care home in January.
It's only slightly less disturbing to learn that the home then tried to cover up the accident. This seeming indifference to training and truth says much about how this company appears to view seniors: as a means of separating families from large sums of money. Our population is aging, and these kinds of care homes are a booming business.
This newspaper frequently receives anecdotal reports of seniors subject to abuse and neglect in a range of facilities. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find anyone willing to speak publicly. Residents are often scared of speaking out and families are often grateful simply to find a somewhat affordable bed.
This is where the provincial government needs to step in. With a growing number of vulnerable citizens living in facilities driven by a profit motive, it is essential that this industry be better regulated. The provincial agency that licensed the North Vancouver facility clearly didn't ask the right questions.
In our age of disposable products and instantly available information, we have started to forget the value of our eldest citizens - their memories, their experience, their wisdom.
By inspecting these private care homes more rigorously, we will not only make a better present for them but also, eventually, a safer future for ourselves.
