Teri MacKay says she does not know how she and her siblings will manage to keep their 87-year-old mother in a private pay long-term care home for an additional six months after the wait time for a publicly subsidized bed unexpectedly increased.
Initial two-year wait now extended
When MacKay first moved her mother, Margaret Hauser, who has dementia, into a private care facility in Surrey last October, Fraser Health had informed her that the wait for a subsidized bed would be approximately two years. However, that wait time has now ballooned to 30 months, leaving the family in a difficult financial predicament. The cost of keeping Margaret in the private facility is $9,500 per month, a sum that is becoming increasingly unsustainable for the family.
Family frustration with the system
MacKay reached out to the media after reading about a similar case in Victoria, where an elderly woman died in hospital after waiting over seven months for a long-term care bed. She expressed frustration with B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne and Premier David Eby, accusing them of avoiding the problem rather than finding solutions for seniors in need.
“If the funded bed comes in, her cost will be $2,000, and that is doable,” said MacKay. “None of us are capable of looking after her daily needs, and so this is the choice that we had to make for her. She has been in long-term care since Oct. 2.”
Lack of assessments and communication issues
Adding to the family's difficulties, Fraser Health has not conducted a reassessment of Margaret since she moved into the care home in October. The family also faced a change in case workers, with the new worker being difficult for Margaret to understand. MacKay noted that the health authority no longer provides a waitlist number because patients with urgent needs, such as those who have fallen, are prioritized.
“It’s a frustrating situation,” said MacKay. “They won’t give you her number because there are too many other people who jump the queue because they take a fall. There are way worse cases than where my mom is at, and so they used to have a list, a long time ago. But they don’t have that anymore.”
Searching for alternatives
MacKay and her sister Kari are exploring other care facilities that might be more affordable, but all available options in the Fraser Valley range from $8,000 to $12,000 per month. The family is reluctant to move Margaret out of the region, where she has her support network.
Government response
Fraser Health did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Premier David Eby acknowledged the frustrations British Columbians face regarding the shortage of long-term care beds. He explained that seven new projects were either put on hold or cancelled due to spiraling costs, with one project reaching $1.8 million per bed. Eby noted that the issue has been known for decades and will become more pressing as the population ages.
“When we formed government, we committed to build thousands of long-term care beds to respond to that, which we have done. And it is also true that for seven projects we saw remarkable and unacceptable cost escalation to the point of one project being $1.8 million a bed for a senior,” said Eby.
