Hundreds of Manitoba seniors wait in hospital for care home beds

A Manitoba woman in her 70shas been in a rural hospital for nearly a year waiting for a spot in a personal care home.

The woman, we're calling Mrs. L,is not alone. More than a thousandManitobansare on the waiting list for a personal care home bed and that number is expected to rise as the population ages.

Mrs. L.,who doesn't want her real name used as the family fearsit would affect her care,had been panelled aftera series of stokes left her with neurological problems. She was admitted to hospital when her family could no longer care for her at home.

"They don't offer the same kind of care that I would expect you would get in a personal care home," saidMrs. L's daughter-in-law, Beverly."You have a bed and your three meals and that's about it."

The lack of activity in the hospitaltaking a toll on Mrs. L, said Beverly.

• BOOM OR BUST |No more 'Freedom 55': Number of Manitoba seniors working has doubled

"She's slowly just slipping away. You just want to hope and pray that you'll see some light in her eyes again," saidBeverly. "There's nothing for her to look forward to."

Mobile viewers can see the full image by tapping here.

Shortage of PCH beds province-wide

Winnipeg has the largest number of people waiting for a spot in a PCH, with 326 people on the list as of February 15, 2016. The median wait time in the city is just over five weeks.

But seniorsinrural areas are waiting far longer. The longest median wait time is 26 weeks in the Interlake and Eastern Health Region, where 218people are on the waiting list. One hundred of those people are waiting in hospital beds in the IERHA.

Pressure on hospitals

"We sometimes approach half of our acute care beds occupied by people waiting to go into a PCH," saidBettyMacKenzie, vice president of community services for the Interlake and Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA).

Panelled seniors are taking up hospital bedsin every RHA. Thereare 61 panelled people inbeds in Winnipeg, 116 in the Southern Health Region, 229 in Prairie Mountainand 14 in the Northern Health Region.

"Those pressures are not going to diminish," saidMacKenzie, "They're only going to increase because thedemographicscoming along are significantly greater."

That's because the baby boomer generation is aging, and driving up the need for PCHbeds. In 2012, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) projectedthe need for personal care beds through to 2036, when the baby boomers will be between 71 and 90 years old.

According to the study, Manitoba will need 5,100 new PCHbeds by 2036 in order to meet the needs of that generation. That's an increase of 51per cent on the 9,891 beds currently in the province.

'Should be an election issue'

"I personally believe the whole PCH issue should be asignificantissue in the election," saidthe Mayor ofPinawa, Blair Skinner. He and other municipal leaders meet regularly with theIERHAto discuss health issues facing the eastern region of the province.

"The need for PCHbeds in our region is desperate," saidSkinner. "The biggest issue is unavailability of beds in our hospitals. We've had to turn people away or send them to another community."

There is a new 80-bed personal care home planned for Lac du Bonnetto replace the 30-bed facility currently in the community. But the 50 additional beds the new building will add will not meet the needs of the region.

According to theIERHA'sCommunity Health Assessment, the region will need between 595 and 680 additional beds in order to meet Manitoba's standard of 110 PCH beds per 1,000 residents over the age of 75. Without those new beds the region's bed supply will fall to between 57.6 61.2 beds/1,000 residents over 75 years of age.

"The shortage of PCH beds is province wide," saidSkinner. "And the rate at which it is beingdealtwith is very poor."

If you have a story about agingyou want to share, contact the CBC's Bridget Forbes at bridget.forbes@cbc.ca.