New Brunswick is lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to the number of nursing home beds per capita.
Dr. Lynn Hansen, President of the New Brunswick Medical Society, says elderly patients are taking up too many beds in hospitals, “Probably 75 per cent of the patients here are now occupying beds in hospitals. They need round the clock care, so they really need to be in nursing homes.”
As the provincial election campaign gets underway, Dr. Hansen is encouraging political parties to focus on seniors’ care, “We are urging them to build more nursing homes to catch up to the national average.”
She says most older Canadians are concerned that they may not have access to high quality home or long term care when they get older.
