Nanaimo seniors got a chance to talk to provincial government representatives about their priorities for long-term care in B.C.
On Friday, June 13, Nanaimo-Lantzville MLA George Anderson held a town hall on the future of long-term care at the Beban Park Social Centre. Susie Chant, parliamentary secretary for seniors’ service and long-term care, was the evening's special guest.
One of the major projects discussed was Lantzville's proposed 306-bed long-term care home, which was first announced in 2023 for Lantzville Road as part of three facilities throughout the province. It will have a 20-bed hospice unit and a 26-bed specialized population unit.
"The project is going through the design phase and once that is completed we'll be going through procurement, my hope is the new long-term care facility will open in 2028, but we'll have a better understanding of that date upon completion of the design," Anderson told the News Bulletin following the event. "All of those details will be confirmed through the design process."
Anderson said the town hall meeting, which attracted about 50 people, drew concerns from residents who want to ensure that the care facility has complementary services, for example access to occupational therapists or recreational opportunities.
"The exciting part about this project is we're looking at what's possible to ensure that there is the best health outcomes for seniors, so that's looking at small households, neighbourhoods, ensuring that there's social and recreational activities available for them and ensuring there is a complement of services."
Aside from the update on the Lantzville project, the MLAs spoke about what the provincial government is doing to improve health care across the province, including long-term home care, with Anderson focusing on the local aspect and Chant discussing provincial approaches.
"Since 2017-18, $3.5 billion have been invested to improve care for seniors in the province…" Anderson said. "Sometimes going into a long-term care facility isn't the best outcome for that individual, sometimes it is being able to age at home."
