Nursing home wait list hits record high — and is now holding up 500 hospital beds – CBC
New data comes as hospitals face surge of flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases
Dec 16, 2022
The number of New Brunswick seniors waiting to get into a nursing home has reached a record high, and nearly 500 of the people on that list are waiting in hospital beds that could be used for acute care, according to a seniors’ advocate.
Cecile Cassista, executive director of the Coalition for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents’ Rights, said 833 people are on the waitlist as of November. Of those, approximately 483 are in hospital
That’s up from 782 and 455 in October, according to data from the Department of Social Development.
Cassista described the numbers as “astounding” and “very upsetting.”
They’re the highest they’ve been since she started tracking them in 2006-07, she said.
“I’m really… frustrated because the government is not taking the responsible role to make sure that our most vulnerable seniors are protected. And it’s just like they’ve been forgotten.”
