Long-term care homes running out of room, Official opposition says

“We have to remember that there are approximately 80,000 additional senior citizens today than there were in 2007. That’s a 53 per cent increase in the number of senior citizens, but we’ve seen an actual drop in the number of beds that are available in long-term care facilities should older folks become frail and need that extra help,” Jorgenson said.

“This is insane, and frankly, this has an enormous cost,” he continued. “There’s the human cost of often older folks living in undignified situations while they wait for a long-term care bed, but there’s also a cost to the overall system.”

Jorgenson said its not uncommon to see people wait for months to get a bed in a long-term care home, which puts extra pressure on the acute care and emergency systems in Saskatchewan. That also comes with an added financial cost, the health critic noted.

“It is so much more expensive to care for somebody in an acute care bed than in a long-term care facility,” Jorgenson said.

Barbara Sambasivan’s youngest brother, James, lives in a private care home because he suffers from myotonic dystrophy, a condition that mainly causes progressive muscle loss, weakness and myotonia and can affect other parts of the body as well, including the heart, lungs and eyes.

Sambasivan said that after spending 10 years in one home, James suffered a fall. After spending days in St. Paul’s Hospital, the owner of the private care home he had been staying in informed them that James’s condition was too severe for the home to care for and he would not be able to return.

“They sent him over to City Hospital, where he was in a ward with a large number of other seniors and people with disabilities. The whole hallways lined both sides, people in their wheelchairs waiting for attention or just watching the world go by, and it took six weeks for the CPAS organization to find him a place.”

Sambasivan said her brother likes his new place, which has a larger staff and offers recreational activities during the day.

“He likes the food there. It has turned out to be really good for him,” she said.

“I’m wondering where I’m going to go when it comes my turn to need nursing care. I haven’t seen any evidence of the building of facilities to house and take care of disabled folks and seniors who need nursing care,” Sambasivan said.

Province says resident safety and care paramount

A statement from the Ministry of Health said the ministry’s priority is to ensure Saskatchewan residents receive safe, appropriate care in the right place, at the right time.

It said that over the past decade, provincial spending on home care has increased by approximately 20 per cent and that home care services now support people with acute, palliative and ongoing care needs, allowing more seniors to remain safely at home and, in some cases, receive hospital-level care without moving into long-term care.

The ministry also said it is providing $150.2 million as part of the 2026-27 provincial budget to support new long-term care infrastructure build projects across Saskatchewan. That is a $57.6 million increase, the ministry noted, from the 2025-26 capital long-term care budget. That money will go towards seven new long-term care projects across the province.

“Our government remains committed to strengthening the full continuum of seniors’ care, from home care and community supports to specialized and long-term care services, so Saskatchewan seniors receive high-quality care wherever they call home,” said Lori Carr, Minister of Seniors.

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by Roman Hayter/CKOM

Long-term care homes running out of room, Official opposition says

Province says resident safety and care paramount

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