New Brunswick Auditor General Kim MacPherson says the growing cost of nursing homes in the province cannot be maintained, as they require over $200 million to stay open.
The province’s population over the age of 75 is projected to double over the next 20 years. MacPherson says the province is not nearly ready.
“The system is not sustainable,” she said. “It's not meeting current demand, nor is there a plan in place to address future demand.”
“I’m very worried.”
MacPherson says provincial nursing home budgets have tripled over the last 15 years. The aging facilities are operating at, or near capacity.
At the same time, the waiting list to get a nursing home bed continues to grow. There are about 4,000 nursing home beds in the province right now.
“We're going to need something in the range of 11,000 nursing home beds in 20 years time,” said MacPherson.
MacPherson says any plans that are in place to address the issue are flawed because there's nothing in place to track if the plans are actually working.
“There seems to be a bit of a scattershot approach to strategies the government is taking without a real focus,” said New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon.
MacPherson says it will take more than just building new nursing homes – something Michael Keating of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes agrees with.
“The northern European countries and Australia have come up with plans where they've moved things away from central governments and into communities to supply these services, and they've done it using different models,” said Keating.
MacPherson is calling for the province to develop a comprehensive long-term plan going forward.
The provincial government did not comment.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.
