Opposition calls for more beds soon to help P.E.I.'s 'crunched' long-term care homes

The Liberal Party is calling on the P.E.I. government to add more long-term care beds to help hospitals across the province that are dealing with overcrowding issues.

Gord McNeilly, the Official Opposition's health critic, described the current state of long-term care homes on the Island as “crunched,” and said the Progressive Conservative government failed to anticipate the issue.

The PCs “think they can fix the problem when the plane’s flying in the air,” he said, but added that health-care staff are doing the best they can with what's available to them.

“God bless them, they're trying their best," McNeilly said. "But you can't fix a crisis like this over the weekend. It's got to be done with planning, and the planning just was not done."

Health P.E.I. said Tuesday that Island hospitals are operating above capacity, with a "high number" of patients filling beds in emergency departments because units are filled with people who should be at long-term care facilities or receiving home care. 

Annual reports from Health P.E.I. show the number of long-term care beds in provincially-run homes is the same now as it was before the pandemic when there were 598 beds. That number had gone up to 622 at one point, but has since dropped to the 2019 level again.

The government has issued tenders that could see more than 200 beds added to the long-term care system, but those haven't been awarded yet. 

In a statement to CBC News, the province said nine public and 11 private long-term care homes offer a total of 1,325 beds across the Island.

"Plans are underway to license up to 175 additional private long-term care beds across the province through a mix of new builds and conversions. Since 2024, 70 beds have been added across multiple long-term care homes," the statement reads.

"Additionally, we committed $11 million in the 2025-26 capital budget over three years to add new long-term care beds at Colville Manor in Souris and Stewart Memorial Home in Tyne Valley."

The Nursing Home Association of P.E.I. said it also wants to see news beds up and running soon to take pressure off hospitals and give people homes.

“What homes are doing, some of them are converting community care beds that might be vacant right now,” said Darlene Oakes, the association's executive director. “They are taking ... maybe a comfort room, palliative room, family room and temporarily converting them to be able to to help with the overcapacity.”

Oakes said the association aims to be as collaborative as possible, but also acknowledged the stress that situations like these can cause families.

In speaking with her colleagues across the country, she said, overcrowding issues are not unique to P.E.I.