New report from the Office of the Seniors Advocate confirms what families across BC have long feared: the long-term care system

A damning new report from the Office of the Seniors Advocate confirms what families across BC have long feared: the long-term care system is collapsing, and nowhere is the situation more dire than under Island Health.

Brennan Day, MLA for Courtenay–Comox and the Official Opposition Critic for Seniors’ Health, is calling it a “full-blown system breakdown driven by government neglect.”

“Since 2017, the NDP has overpromised and underdelivered,” said Day. “Nowhere is that more obvious than here in Island Health, where wait times for long-term care have nearly quadrupled. They’ve had eight years. Seniors can’t wait any longer.”

Key findings from the Seniors Advocate’s report include:

• Vancouver Island median wait times for long-term care have increased from 60 days to 230 days, among the worst in the province.

• Waitlists have tripled across BC since 2016, with Island Health making up a significant portion of the growth.

• Of the 5,000 care beds promised by the NDP since 2020, only 380 have been built, with most construction delayed until at least 2028.

• Public home support per capita has declined by 10%, and 60% of seniors admitted to care received no publicly funded home support while they waited.

Despite repeated warnings and recommendations from the Seniors Advocate, the NDP government has failed to deliver on alternatives like assisted living and respite care. The consequences are now rippling across the health system.

“Seniors aren’t getting the support they need at home, so they end up in emergency rooms instead, and our hospitals are buckling under the pressure,” said Day.

According to the report, 95% of seniors entering care had a caregiver, most often a spouse or adult child, yet 60% of those caregivers reported distress. Access to adult day programs remains worse than it was before the pandemic, and respite services continue to be underfunded.

“This is a regional failure with provincial roots,” said Day. “You can’t blame demographics when you’ve had eight years to plan and refused to act. The so-called ‘grey wave’ didn’t come out of nowhere,it’s been building for years, and this government still wasn’t ready.”

Day is calling for an immediate, targeted action plan for Island Health, including:

• Emergency investment in home support services

• Expansion of publicly subsidized assisted living

• Fast-tracked construction of long-term care beds in the hardest-hit communities

“The evidence is clear. The need is urgent. The excuses are over,” said Day. “This government must answer to every family left waiting, worrying, and wondering if help will ever come.”