Kanazawa: Many workers at elderly care facilities in areas hit by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake have quit or are set to quit their jobs, forcing some short-staffed facilities to scale down services or suspend operations.

Some workers experienced the disaster themselves and had to evacuate from their damaged homes, finding it difficult to continue working as a result.

About 1,000 residents of elderly care facilities in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa, where the peninsula is located, have been transferred within or out of the prefecture in the wake of the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. The number is almost on par with that of elderly facility residents who were transferred after the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, according to a welfare ministry official.

Due to the labor shortage, it might be difficult for the facilities to welcome back the transferred residents even if they wish to return.

At social welfare corporation Chojukai, which runs care facilities in the city of Suzu and the town of Noto, 45 of its 230 employees have left their jobs or are planning to do so by March because of the disaster, while about 100 residents have been transferred to locations including the prefectural capital of Kanazawa.

“We are in a situation where we have no choice but to scale down our services,” Akira Tsubakihara, 52, an official of the corporation, said.

At Miyabi, an elderly home in the city of Wajima, about half of its 60 employees have quit or are planning to do so by March. About 50 residents have been evacuated within or outside the prefecture.

Takeshi Shiriden, 68, head of the facility, said: “We may have to suspend operations in the near future. We have no idea how many residents will return and how many workers will be needed.”

Child-rearing workers in their 30s to 50s have quit Cosmos, a special elderly home in Noto.

“It might be difficult for workers with children to imagine rebuilding their lives in their hometowns. Workers who play a central role in running our facilities are leaving, and more such employees are likely to do so,” said Naohiko Mizukami, 60, vice manager of the facility.

In order to secure workers, Cosmos is considering rehiring people who had worked at closed facilities.

In two cities and two towns in the deepest part of the Noto Peninsula, people aged 65 or over accounted for more than 45 percent of their respective populations, according to Japan’s census in 2020. The rate was as high as about 52 percent in Suzu.

After the New Year’s Day earthquake, more than 10 care facilities for elderly people suspended operations in the region. Nurses working at hospitals are also leaving their jobs one after another, raising concerns about the fate of local medical and elderly care services.

JIJI Press