Residents Love This Supportive Housing Nurse. Her Job Is Being Cut

If it wasn’t for the nurse who works in her supportive housing building, Angel Gates wouldn’t have gotten vaccinated for COVID-19 or been recently screened for cervical cancer.

“I really don’t like pap tests, and the doctor and the nurse made it happen here for me. They probably saved my life,” Gates said.

“She will come to your door, right when you need to have something done. She reminds you, and she talks to you like a friend.”

Michael Shadlock’s struggles with anxiety often prevent him from being able to access health care at clinics, but the nurse, Twyla Flores, has helped him navigate the health system and get appointments with specialists, including for an upcoming hip replacement surgery.

“I’m scared to go and ask people I don’t know for things,” he said.

Flores helped Jordan Sillje when he had an infection on his leg caused by a bedbug bite. “There was no way for me to walk to the hospital… I would have had to call an ambulance.” Later, she convinced him to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Without Flores helping her manage irritable bowel syndrome, Tracey Culos said she’d be going to the emergency room frequently for treatment — something she hates doing.

The nurse has supported Ginger Austin, who is transgender, and helped Terry Nielsen deal with his grief after his girlfriend died. “She’s a friend,” said Austin.

Woodwards Community Housing in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood is one of the best-known examples of supportive housing in the city, a model that offers health and social supports to help people remain housed and stay in good physical and mental health. The 125 units of supportive housing were included in a redevelopment of the Woodward’s site that opened in 2010, and included a condo tower, stores and a university space.

In many new supportive housing buildings, governments and housing operators tout the importance of including on-site health services. But Woodwards residents are reeling after learning that a full-time nursing position that has been in place at the building since it opened in 2010 will be cut. They say they’re shocked, angry and deeply sad to hear Flores will be leaving.

They fear the decision, made by their housing operator, PHS Community Services and the health authority, Vancouver Coastal Health, will lead to more hospital visits, more psychotic episodes and health problems going untreated.

“During a pandemic and an opioid crisis, you’re going to take away our nurse?” Gates asked.

Marc Erickson has lived in the building ever since it opened. From what he’s heard, he said, the nursing position was cut in an effort to save money. Erickson said that was short-sighted.

“The fact that a lot of these people don’t monitor their health properly means that they’ll ignore issues until they get worse, and they’ll end up being hospitalized and it costs more,” Erickson said.

“We have a vulnerable population here. It’s a supportive housing building here so there are many people with mental health or addiction issues or mobility challenges.”

Shadlock said moving into Woodwards changed his life. Before moving into the building in 2010, he lived in single-room occupancy hotels and used intravenous drugs frequently. Using dirty needles led to a serious infection in his arm, and he ended up in hospital and then in a transitional housing program run by PHS that was designed for people who needed extra care after being hospitalized. He moved into Woodwards soon after it opened.

“My life changed considerably when I came to this building,” he said. “My drug consumption dropped considerably. I was in and out of jail at that time in my life, but when I got here, I was in heaven.”

While all the nurses who have worked at the building since 2010 have done a good job, the residents who spoke to The Tyee said Flores has made an especially big impact on their lives. She genuinely loves the job and working with residents, and is always there to listen to people, they said. She also goes to some people’s apartments, a vital service to reach vulnerable people who might not get treatment otherwise.

Some residents were moved to tears when speaking of how Flores had helped them. They said they want PHS and Vancouver Coastal Health to reverse the decision to cut the nursing position.

In response to questions from The Tyee, PHS sent an emailed statement.

“PHS, in partnership with our funders, is restructuring responsibilities and supports across our housing continuum to more appropriately provide increased services to residents with the highest medical needs according to available funding,” the housing operator said in an emailed statement.

Vancouver Coastal Health did not reply to a request for comment.