A Semiahmoo Peninsula politician is calling for accountability from the health authority and other leaders after the closure of a local home for people with mental health concerns.
Buena Vista Lodge was a home in White Rock that housed a dozen people with serious and persistent mental health concerns. Operating in the community for more than 50 years, every resident officially moved out of the space on Jan. 26 after Fraser Health decided to not fund it with new operators.
“There was no reason to do this, there was absolutely none,” Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford told Peace Arch News outside the home Friday.
“It comes down to two things: it comes down to money and it comes down to control, and those are two very bad reasons to displace people that are actually feeling like a part of the community and are given the support they need.”
Hearing the news of one former resident, David Miller, being admitted to hospital for several weeks after being uprooted to Cloverdale, Halford said he warned the Ministry of Health that this would happen.
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“I said this from the beginning. This is exactly what was going to happen when you take these people here and you displace them everywhere. You are dealing with people that are suffering from severe mental health issues, and they are from this community, they are a part of this community,” he said. “They’ve made so much progress, and they’ve spent Christmases and birthdays with everybody in here, then you take them and you move them to something completely different they have no familiarity with in a completely different city — what do you think the results are going to be?”
Halford went to several political leaders for support in saving the home, he said, since September 2022 when he heard about Fraser Health’s decision, before raising the issue in legislature in November. The response he got and the result of everything now makes the MLA angry, he stressed.
“Shame on the government for not doing the right thing and actually stepping up and getting this done, and shame on the people I went to and asked for help and (said) ‘well, it’s a Fraser Health decision’ and then later on they jump in and say they want to get involved,” Halford said.
“By that time, the decision has been made and the people have already moved out. That, I will not forget because that is a complete lack of leadership, and those people know who they are. These people (at Buena Vista) could’ve used their help when they were in the position to do so.”
With at least one former resident now struggling immensely with their mental health, Halford says “now we are seeing the consequences,” adding that he fears for how the others are managing.
Although Buena Vista Lodge is not home to any residents anymore, the MLA says he is still going to reach out to colleagues and the health authority to demand more accountability be taken.
“If they came here and met with these people, you’d see the fear in their eyes. That’s when you make a decision as a leader to help fight for these people or bury your head in the sand. I’m going to fight, I’m still going to fight because this was a bad decision that’s had absolutely terrible results,” he stressed.
“When I came here and I met with the people living in this home, and the families of those people, the one thing they said to me was ‘this is our home, this is our community. These people that live here are our family members. Please don’t displace us.’”
The individuals who lived in the home had their care staff, families, friends, part-time jobs, activities they enjoyed, all close by. Now, five of them live in Cloverdale while others live in different areas.
“I am beyond sad that somebody is in the hospital because this government made a decision to put their interest ahead of these people,” Halford said.
“This never, ever should have happened.”