Recent long-term care announcement highlights the critical gap in capacity

Today’s announcement, made by B.C. Minister of Health Hon. Adrian Dix regarding Fraser Health’s new 300-bed long-term care home in Langley, highlights an important step forward in addressing the critical gap in our province’s long-term care capacity.

While BC Care Providers Association (BCCPA) commends this expansion, we also acknowledge that the current demands far exceed what can be addressed by the government alone. The Conference Board of Canada projects that B.C. will need over 30,000 new long-term care beds by 2035 for our aging population.

Both the government and the private sector need to work together to meet the growing need. Including the private sector in building more long-term care infrastructure could offer a more efficient, tax-payer-friendly approach to this issue. With current infrastructure spending averaging $1 million per bed, more cost-effective approaches are urgently needed.

With the provincial election quickly approaching, BCCPA hopes that there will soon be more opportunities for this to help meet the needs of our aging population. The Association calls for an #AllHandsonDeck approach – with the government and private sector alike – to ensure that seniors have access to long-term care services when they need them.

BCCPA encourages members and advocates to use our pre-election All Hands-on-Deck: An Urgent Call to Action strategy to help urge candidates and MLAs to recognize crucial issues in seniors’ care and to take action in supporting our seniors.