BC NDP to ask wealthiest to chip in a bit more so seniors get the care they deserve

VICTORIA – David Eby announced a health-care plan for seniors today, pledging free shingles vaccines and expanded home care support to help seniors live independently longer. The plan also moves public long-term care projects forward so that more care is available when seniors need it.

“The people who built our province deserve dignity and peace of mind as they age. That means being able to stay in the home you love, with help when you need it, and knowing there will be a place for you when you require more care,” said David Eby, BC NDP leader. “That’s what our plan is all about: more support at home, more help to keep seniors healthy and out of hospital, and more long-term care beds. While Conservatives refuse to be honest about their health care cuts, our plan asks the wealthiest to pay a bit more so seniors get the support they need.”

Under the BC NDP, a million more people have been connected to a family doctor, 24 new and expanded hospitals have been built or are underway, 48 urgent primary care centres have been opened, and a new medical school has been established at SFU Surrey to train more doctors locally. To further strengthen the front lines, Eby also committed to tripling funding for the B.C.’s successful U.S. recruitment campaign to bring hundreds more doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers to the province.

“Our plan to strengthen public health care is making a difference, but I’m not going to stop until every senior and every family gets the care they need – when and where they need it,” said Eby. “The Conservatives would put our progress at risk. They won’t ask those at the top to contribute a bit more, and they’ve already admitted that health care would ‘take the brunt’ of their cuts. Seniors can’t afford their cuts, their chaos, or their higher costs. Especially right now.”

Five ways David Eby and the BC NDP will strengthen health care for seniors in B.C.:

• Expanding home care support: Adding 500 health-care workers to give more seniors faster, hands-on support, scrapping user fees, and expanding virtual Long-term Care at Home monitoring. Together, these steps will help roughly 5,600 more seniors stay safely in their homes longer.
• Free shingles vaccines: Covering the full cost of the two-dose shingles vaccine for all adults aged 50+ and all immunocompromised adults, to prevent unnecessary hospital visits and help people live healthier lives.
• Better care for long-term care residents: Bringing more nurse practitioners, pharmacy services, and virtual specialist consultations into long-term care homes so residents can avoid trips to hospital, and setting up more teams to support patients ready to leave hospital and return to community-based care.
• Building more long-term care beds faster and for less: With the funding secured through the BC-Canada Prosperity agreement, the BC NDP will move ahead with seven long-term care projects that had been paused earlier this year, using a new model that lowers per-bed costs, shortens construction timelines, and helps us build beds at scale for the future. These seven projects are in addition to the 16 long-term care projects already completed, seven under construction, and 15 more in planning.
• Fair wages for care workers:Bringing 5,000 care-home workers back into the public health employer system to ensure stable staffing, better continuity of care, and fair pay.