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Province’s Funding Cut Risks Seniors’ Safety and Rural Health Care

Brennan Day, MLA for Courtenay–Comox and Conservative Official Opposition Critic for Rural and Seniors’ Health, is calling on the government to immediately reverse its plan to end supplemental funding for overtime and agency staffing in publicly subsidized long-term care and assisted living facilities on October 31, 2025.

“This is a short-sighted, reckless, and frankly dangerous decision. Cutting the very tools care homes use to keep residents safe will cost seniors their dignity and, for some, potentially their lives,” said Day. “The government must walk this back—now.”

Seniors in rural communities will bear the brunt of growing backlogs and closed beds.  

“Nearly 1 in 6 B.C. seniors live in rural areas, with the largest shares in Interior and Island Health. Those regions already face tougher workforce shortages and fewer alternatives. Removing overtime and agency options will hit them first and hardest,” said Day.

“The average wait time for a long-term care bed in this province is a whopping 242 days.  Ending coverage for overtime and agency staffing will make those waits even longer and force homes to pause admissions.”

Care homes rely on overtime and qualified agency staff to cover outbreaks and sick calls, with 59% of sites using agency staff.

“The province must reverse this cut and strike a rapid, fair funding fix. There are proven ways to solve long-term care staffing issues, with expanded workforce pipelines and targeted rural recruitment. Non-government operators can be leveraged to build capacity,” said Day.

“Seniors already account for 83% of alternate level of care (ALC) cases—patients who no longer need acute care but can’t be discharged because community or long-term care isn’t available. When care homes can’t staff shifts, those ALC pressures climb and hospitals will get even more gridlocked.”

Removing funding will force contingency staffing, bed closures, and service reductions.

“This isn’t belt-tightening—it’s buckling the knees of the entire seniors’ care system,” Day added. “Reverse the cut, then work with providers on solutions that actually protect seniors.”

 

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