NEWS RELEASE — 
January 11, 2023 – 12:11 PM

The Province is adding about 600 more single long-term care rooms to help meet the needs of Nova Scotia seniors, bringing the total number of new and replacement rooms to 3,500 by 2027.

“Too many seniors are in hospitals and at home waiting to get into long-term care,” said Barbara Adams, Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care. “Adding more single rooms will help ensure we can meet this need now and in the future so that Nova Scotians can continue to rely on our long-term care system to provide the care they need, if and when they need it.”

Operating costs for each room will be about $140,000 annually.

The new rooms will also free up hospital beds for surgeries and other medical treatments. About 280 people are currently in hospital waiting for placement in long-term care. In the meantime, under the QEII redevelopment plan, the government will create two transition-to-community centres for people waiting in hospital for long-term care and other community-based supports to stay temporarily.

A request for qualified suppliers to build new long-term care rooms in Central Zone was issued in February. Negotiations are underway with the selected companies: Gem Healthcare, Northwoodcare, Rosecrest Communities and Shannex Inc. The locations of the new facilities, final distribution of the new rooms by facility, and other details will be released when that process concludes.

Recent investments in building the workforce, including recruitment, free tuition and textbooks for people studying to become continuing care assistants, and more funding for long-term care homes to hire more staff, will help ensure adequate staffing.

Providing the care Nova Scotians need and deserve is a key solution in Action for Health, the government’s strategic plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia.

Quotes:
The Seniors’ Advisory Council of Nova Scotia is a volunteer group of nine organizations representing over 100,000 seniors and retirees living in Nova Scotia. Our Continuing Care Committee’s main position is that every Nova Scotian has the right to high-quality, accessible, responsive and accountable continuing care services. We are pleased with today’s announcement – it’s a significant step forward for continuing care in Nova Scotia. Ron Swan, Chair, Seniors’ Advisory Council of Nova Scotia

Quick Facts:
each new long-term care room will be for one person and includes their own bathroom of the 3,500 long-term care rooms that will open across the province by 2027, about 1,200 will be new rooms and approximately 2,300 will be replacement rooms about 8,000 Nova Scotians live in a long-term care facility almost 22 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population is 65 and older, the third-highest percentage in the country; this is expected to grow to about 25 per cent by 2032