A ballooning seniors population is waiting longer to get into long-term care in the province, with the longest waits in Island Health, according to a report from sa国际传媒’s seniors advocate.
While sa国际传媒 seniors are living longer, healthier and more independently, the released Wednesday points to the pressures of meeting the demands of a demographic that has seen 45 per cent growth over 10 years.
It also outlines an upward trend in long-term wait times, abuse and use of anti-psychotics by those in long-term care without a diagnosis of psychosis.
sa国际传媒 Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt, speaking Wednesday at the sa国际传媒 legislature, said the province is not even maintaining its services for seniors year over year — “in fact they’re getting worse.”
As of March 31, 6,464 people who had already been assessed for placement were waiting in hospital or in their homes for admission into long-term care.
“We are going backward in several very important areas,” said Levitt, noting the average wait for a long-term care bed in the community is 151 days. “That’s a 47 per cent increase over the past five years,” said Levitt.
In urgent cases, seniors wait on average 73 days, which represents a 107 per cent increase over five years, he said, while non-urgent cases wait 225 days, an 89 per cent increase.
Those in hospital waiting for admission to long-term care wait on average 59 days, a 74 per cent increase.
“Having to wait that long to be admitted to long-term care is putting further stress on family caregivers — who can no longer care for their loved one at home — many of whom are seniors themselves,” said Levitt.
Because the wait is shorter from hospital, desperate individuals and families may want to use hospitals to fast-track admission into long-term care, which is “not good news” for anyone working the health-care system, said Levitt. “It’s bad for patients. It’s bad for patient flow, and it’s bad for family caregivers and the seniors.”
Island Heath, home to the highest percentage of seniors in the province, had the longest wait times for long-term care of all health authorities in 2023-2024, according to the report.
Of those admitted to long-term care, the average wait time for non-urgent cases in Island Health is 303 days, compared to 159 days in the Interior Health region.
The average wait for urgent admissions to long-term care — defined as clients living with intolerable risk — was 106 days in Island Health, compared with the average provincial wait of 73 days.
And for people waiting in hospital, Island Health has the longest wait at 113 days.
Levitt said pockets of Vancouver Island, including Greater Victoria and the mid Island, have a much higher proportion of seniors than just about anywhere else in the province.
“And when you think about the availability of long-term care for that population, it’s not there,” said Levitt. “The supports simply haven’t kept up with the demand and the proportion of seniors who are there.”
The statistics show more investment needs to be made on the Island in order to keep up with demand, he said.
Island Health was not immediately available to comment.
Based on information from 431 publicly subsidized long-term care and assisted living facilities in sa国际传媒, the report found:
• Wait lists for knee and hip replacements for those age 65-plus increased 53 per cent and 59 per cent respectively over five years. As of March 31 there were 6,724 seniors waiting for a knee replacement and only 56 per cent had the surgery within the federal benchmark of 26 weeks.
• The number of applications for seniors’ subsidized housing reached close to 14,000 last year, 59 per cent more than five years ago, and just six per cent of applicants received a unit.
• Calls to the Seniors Abuse and Information Line related to abuse increased 92 per cent over the past five years.
• The proportion of long-term care residents taking anti-psychotic medications without a diagnosis of psychosis in 2023-24 increased to 29.5 per cent, the highest level in the last five years.
• More than 80 per cent of seniors receiving Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters paid rents that were, on average, $355 above the rent ceiling the aid is based on. The average subsidy was $192 per month.
The report offered a picture of sa国际传媒’s seniors population, which numbered just over a million last year, having grown 15 per cent over five years.
The percentage of seniors with complex chronic conditions has remained relatively stable in that time, including the percentage with dementia — five per cent.
The report also shows 95 per cent of seniors live independently in private homes — a higher proportion than five years ago — while just five per cent of seniors live in assisted living or long-term care.
