Long-Term Care

• Standard (private or shared) accommodation with 24-hour nursing and personal care supports
• Safe and secure living environment
• Medication supervision and administration
• Development and maintenance of personal care plans
• Clinical support services such as rehabilitation and social work services consistent with the care plan
• Planned physical, social and recreational activities
• Nutritious meals, including therapeutic meals as ordered, and meal replacements
• Laundry services, including personal clothes that can be washed without special attention to the laundering process
• General hygiene supplies
• Routine medical supplies and standard incontinence management
• Basic wheelchair for personal use

Many long-term care homes also offer short stay services for respite, convalescence or palliative care. Some facilities also have community hospice beds

Our person-centered philosophy is designed to support individual choices, help people function at their highest level and provide the best quality of life possible.

• The BC Residents’ Bill of Rights promotes health, safety and dignity, and supports the social, cultural, religious, spiritual and other rights of individuals.
• Resident and Family Councils are made up of persons who either live in a long-term care home or are friends and relatives of care home residents. The councils facilitate improved communication and collaboration between family members and care home staff and management. View the Family Council Resource Guide.

You can access this service by contacting your local Home and Community Care office, where a care manager will determine your needs and eligibility. Priority is always given to those with the highest need and at the greatest risk.

The search for a long-term care home that best meets your needs start as soon as the Care Manager completes your assessment.

You will be asked to choose up to three preferred care homes in your community or other communities in British Columbia where you would like to live. If you are at increased risk, you will also be offered to be on an interim care home waiting list. This may facilitate accessing a care home as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met and improve your safety. You will be able to wait at the interim care home for one of the preferred sites you have identified.

While you are waiting for a care home vacancy, your care manager will monitor your status to ensure your choices will still meet your needs.

• Interior Health Long-term Care Homes
• Current Wait Times for Long-term Care Homes in IH

B.C.’s long-term care access policy ensures people who are at intolerable risk in the community will be offered a vacancy at a long-term care home with high priority. If you are not at intolerable risk, you will have to wait to be offered a vacancy at your preferred site(s) based on your access (wait list) date. Once a vacancy has been offered, you will be expected to move with very short notice – within 48 hours – to a preferred care home or within 72 hours to an interim care home.

If you move to an interim care home, you will wait there to be offered vacancy at one of the sites you identified as a preference. When a vacancy becomes available at one of your preferred locations, you will have the choice of accepting or declining it, or remaining where you are.

If you are assessed as needing long-term care following a stay in the hospital, your care manager will assist you to return home with appropriate care and services in place, and assess your needs while you are at home to start the access process. 

If you are not able to return home due to your care needs, you may also move into a private pay long-term care home while awaiting an interim or preferred publicly subsidized long-term care home. 

If you move to one of your preferred care homes, but find you don’t like living there, you can contact the access coordinator to request a transfer to a new home.

Private pay long-term care services are paid for by the individual and not funded by Interior Health or the province. You don’t need an assessment by IH staff for admission to a private pay facility. Depending on individual circumstances, private pay long-term care may be the right option for either temporary or permanent care. 

There are many private pay long-term care homes to choose from, each offering a variety of services and features. Some sites have both publicly subsidized and private pay rooms. For additional listing and information contact the BC Care Providers Association.

It is important to know that choosing to pay privately on a temporary basis does not guarantee you will be transferred to a subsidized vacancy at the same site. 

Approximate care costs, overall affordability and the type of care required should be carefully considered when choosing a private pay long-term care home. It is best to contact these sites directly for detailed information about availability, costs and services

To be eligible for publicly subsidized long-term care you must:

• Have a health-care need that requires 24-hour nursing and personal care
• Be a citizen of Canada or have permanent status, or be a landed immigrant or are on a Minister's permit approved by the Ministry of Health
• Be 19 years of age or older
• Have lived in B.C. for ninety (90) days or longer
• Agree to the assessment process, including the release of financial information
• Have tried all of the avenues available for receiving care at home

For information on exceptions to eligibility criteria, contact your local Home and Community Care office