New 60-bed nursing home coming to Oromocto, N.B.

A new nursing home will open in Oromcto, N.B., in two years, bringing with it 60 beds for the province’s long-term care system.

According to a Thursday news release from the province, the nursing home, which will be built and operated by Enhanced Living, will open in April 2026. It will have four households with 15 residents in each.

“With the aging population continuing to grow in New Brunswick, our efforts to increase the number of nursing home beds in the province are vital to ensuring all seniors have access to the right care at the right time,” said Kathy Bockus, minister responsible for seniors, in the release.

Construction for the facility, located on Sebani Street, will start this year. A separate nursing home for Moncton was announced last year.

Expert says more support needed for seniors to age at home

The long-term care sector has been under pressure for some time.

In January, New Brunswick Social Development Minister Jill Green approved the Saint John Regional Hospital to enter a “critical state” protocol, prioritizing its patients when nursing home beds become available. Usually nursing home admissions are made chronologically, but because of this mechanism, when any nursing home beds become available, people waiting at the SJRH get them first.

It happens when a hospital is overcapacity, both in its emergency department and acute care units, and when critical surgeries are being cancelled due to lack of beds.

It lasts for 30 days before being reassessed. The same protocol was approved for Fredericton’s Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital on Jan. 23.

“We're moving as fast as we can. We're working together and thinking of other solutions. So everybody's working on it, every department together, hand in hand,” said Green at the nursing home announcement in Oromocto.

As of Jan. 31, 901 people were waiting for a nursing home bed in the province. Of those, 421 were waiting in hospital. That’s down from the start of the year, in part because of the critical state protocols.

But there has been some criticism.

And some experts remind that there should be other options to seniors available.

“We know that Canadians want to be able to age at home and remain at home for as long as possible. But that means that we also have to equip our system with a really robust approach to home care. And right now, I know that there's a lot more development that needs to be done in that space,” said Jodi Hall, CEO of the Canadian Association of Long Term Care.

There are 75 nursing homes across N.B., which make up 5,163 beds.

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