👩🦳👨🦳 Nursing Homes & Long Term Care
Where to start
Island Health website, in their Long Term Care section: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/home-care-assisted-living-long-term-care/long-term-care-options
BC Health website, Long Term Care section: healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/long-term-care-choices
Alzheimer Society of BC, Vancouver Island help: alzheimer.ca/bc/en/help-support/find-support-bc/vancouver-island
The Process: Getting into an Assisted Living Home, Long-Term Care Home or Nursing Home
This is the process to get into a subsidized room or bed at a facility or home (paid for by the government health service and a portion by the senior citizen, depending on their income level).
Make an appointment with the Home Care services office, in Island Health. First, you'll have a phone call with a nurse to talk about the senior's health needs. Then, you might have to visit the office in Victoria.
Call the Home Care office at 250-388-2273, or, 1-888-533-2273. Website for Island Health Home Care Services: https://www.islandhealth.ca/our-services/home-care-services
The nurse will evaluate how soon the senior needs to go into care, along with input from their doctor, specialists and family members. They will go onto the waiting list queue and be given a priority level for when a bed opens up at an assisted living home or care facility within the Greater Victoria region.
Are they moving here to be closer to family, and are not currently in a long-term care home? They may need to stay at a family member's home in Victoria or at a private-pay care home in Victoria to get into a facility sooner.
If the senior is already in a long-term care home somewhere else in Canada, their transfer is arranged by the Victoria Home Care office to get them safely here.
When a spot opens, the home care office will call the senior and/or the family member helping to notify them. Once they have spoken to you, the senior has 48 hours (and they really, really mean this) to accept the offer and move into the facility.
Accept the spot. Do not decline it. If you do, you go to the bottom of the queue, which means you will have to wait 1 year or more for another spot
Once you accept the spot & move in, you can ask to be transferred/moved to your preferred facility when a spot opens at that facility. That sometimes can happen in as short as 1 month, or as long as 1 year. It depends.
FAQ: Nursing Homes & Long Term Care
Does my parent or grandparent have to be a Canadian citizen or a Canadian permanent resident to move into a home or facility?
Yes, typically they need to be a citizen or a permanent resident. There are some exceptions. Contact Canada Immigration and Citizenship: canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html
Can we choose the care home?
Yes and no. When you’re enrolling, you will let Island Health know which facilities you prefer. They will place the senior in the first opening they have. But, if a spot opens up at the facility the senior likes better, they can be moved over later.
Is there a “packing checklist” to prepare for a move to a care home?
Yes, here are two packing checklists (also called “moving checklists) for moving into a care home:
I’d like to take my parent out on a drive to see the Island
Great idea. Here are 33 places all over the Island you can drive to easily, and see for free with your parent or grandparent.