Thoughts on BC Politics and More

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 t...

Barbara Donaldson has been waiting months, including six spent in a hospital bed, to get into a long-term care home. But this could just be the start of the 84-year-old Victoria woman’s journey, as Island Health has warned her and her family that she could be facing up to two more years on a waiting list. “I have raised my fist and shouted from the hilltop within the system to try to raise awareness and get something different for my mom, something better for my mom, and it has just been met with roadblocks,” said Laura Kyle, Donaldson’s daughter. “I know that the government has known about this influx of seniors that was going to start happening in the last couple of years, and now, I mean, we’re on the front lines of it, witnessing it, and going: ‘I can’t believe that this problem was ignored.’ ” ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

For-profit long-term care facilities are making record profits from publicly funded beds but providing fewer care hours than non-profits, says Isobel McKenzie   For-profit long-term care facilities are making record profits from publicly funded beds, yet provide fewer resident care hours than non-profits, says the province’s watchdog for seniors. On Monday, B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie released her latest review, ­ Billions More Reasons to Care , which looks at revenues and expenditures in long-term care in 2021-2022 compared to five years ago. The report, an update to a 2020 report, comes as the wait for long-term care beds has risen 149 per cent and the number of beds per 100,000 population has dropped 13 per cent ... CLICK HERE for the full story