To everything there is a season. It's no different with senior care beds which are being replaced at Interior Health's largest senior care facilities in Cranbrook and Kimberley.

Some 72 of the 20-year-old beds are being replaced at the Dr. F.W. Green Memorial Home in Cranbrook and the Kimberley Special Care Home ("The Pines") in Kimberley and being replaced with modern, user operated beds that should be a major improvement for clients, says Jeff Betker, IH residential care manager for Cranbrook and Kimberley.

Marysville resident David Dunbar, who volunteers regularly at The Pines, said he was concerned that IH made no attempt to recycle the old beds after he came across several of them piled up in a lounge where he assists with Sunday services at The Pines.

"It seems criminal to me if all they're going to do is mash them up for scrap metal."

Dunbar says many seniors in the community are looking after their aged spouses and could use the old beds which appear to be in good working order. "I'd hate to see them go to waste. I feel pretty strongly there must be people in the community that need these kind of beds and would be willing to pay something for them."

Betker says he appreciates Dunbar's concerns but hastens to point out that IH advertised the availability of the old beds extensively, and did find new owners for close to 30 of them. But it simply wasn't feasible for all the old beds to be recycled, he says. "Things end. It's like an old car. I wouldn't feel right handing it over to my teenager if it wasn't safe."

Betker says the old beds are extremely heavy - 300 to 400 pounds - and difficult to move and present a real problem getting them into a conventional house. "It takes four guys to move these beds and we're talking about hallways that are large and flat with lino (in other care homes or hospitals). We're not talking about trying to negotiate them up the stairs in somebody's home. It's truly not feasible. If you ever move them in and they don't work, you're stuck. And when they don't work, they often get stuck in the high position."

Despite this, Betker says more than two dozen of the old beds are "spoken for" after IH advertised their availability. Some interest was expressed by other hospitals, care facilities, the Red Cross and churches, but there were few commitments to actually take them, he says. "They're old and they have a tendency to break down and we're not interested in raising money that way at all. It's not about selling the beds and making some money. It's about getting the right product into our facilities."

Beds not recycled to other facilities will be sold for scrap metal, Betker says.

Several of the old beds are hand-me-downs and really aren't worth much anyway, he says. Some came to the Green Home and the Pines from the old Kimberley Hospital and the East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook before millions were spent modernizing it, he says.

"We're going from a 350-pound bed to the new ones which are 170 pounds perhaps and go right to the floor, so there's less concern about folks falling out of the higher beds because you can adjust them right to the floor. But we're interested and we're going to keep a number of the (old) beds in case somebody comes forward."

Asked what he would say to Dunbar, or anyone else questioning how IH proceeded on the issue, Betker didn't hesitate. "We were grateful to get the new product and we think our residents will be thrilled with the new beds. They're much safer and easier to use, especially for dementia patients because they can be adjusted all the way down which helps prevent falls. They're also quicker, lighter and more mobile which will make our staff a lot happier."

The changeover to the new beds has already been completed at the Green Home and it should be completed at The Pines by Saturday. The new beds cost $2,000 each, says Betker. "But that's a small price to pay for what we've received and for what they will do for our residents, clients and staff and I'd like to thank all of them for the patience they've shown in this."