Auditor General Kim MacPherson warns the nursing home budget is growing at an unsustainable rate and is not meeting existing demand let alone future needs.
Over the last 15 years, the budget for nursing home services has almost tripled but there are still hundreds of people on a waiting list. She says a comprehensive long-term plan is needed but the solution is not simply to add more nursing home beds to the system.
It’s predicted the number of seniors in New Brunswick will double during the next 20 years. If the demand for nursing home services remains consistent, more than 10,000 nursing home beds could be needed by 2036.
MacPherson says there are lots of initiatives, more than 30 for the home first strategy alone, but there’s no reporting on what’s working and what’s not.
She estimates caring for seniors in more expensive acute-care hospital beds cost the province an extra $40 million during the past five years.
