The recently released report from the Office of the Seniors' Advocate paints a picture of an unfolding crisis coming for elder care across the province and right here in Oak Bay.
The crisis is threefold: not enough publicly funded long-term care beds to accommodate our aging population, decline in the availability of home support services that enable people to remain at home longer, and a lack of affordable, accessible independent living arrangements.
According to the report, there is already a provincewide shortage of 2,044 publicly supported long-term beds. That number increases to 7,249 by 2030 based on the Ministry of Health's current plans and then to an even larger shortfall of 16,856 by 2035.
Current Ministry of Health plans include replacing 1,755 beds in aging facilities and adding 3,315 "net" new beds across the province by 2030. Only 15 of these new beds will be allocated to VIHA, our health region. These numbers do not include plans that private for-profit providers like Amica or not-for-profit providers such as Kiwanis or Baptist Housing may have.
Here in Oak Bay, 36.1% of our population is over 65 today, and if current trends continue will be 43.3% in a few years. While many of us live in our own homes and want to continue to do so, there may come a time when we need help. Home support services will allow us to remain at home, but these programs are slowly declining at a time when demand is increasing.
And so even if these supports are in place, there may come a time when a chronic disease progresses and the partner-turned-caregiver cannot cope. The magic age for this seems to be about 80. Today's waitlist for a publicly funded long-term care bed is 290 days. The cost of care in a hospital bed after a health emergency while waiting for that bed is more than $1,000 a day.
Finally, even when seniors facing health and mobility challenges are ready to move from their homes, affordable, accessible housing suitable for their changing needs is not there. Only 6% of those on waiting lists can be accommodated for this type of housing.
Join the Community Association of Oak Bay and Action Oak Bay to explore options for the former Oak Bay Lodge site as a future campus of care for seniors. Session one is set for Sept. 3 from 4-6 p.m. at Monterey Centre with B.C. seniors advocate Dan Levitt. A second session is set for Sept. 11 from 7-9 p.m. at the Windsor Pavilion with Minister of Citizen Services Diana Gibson and Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdock.
Jan Mears
Oak Bay
