The B.C. NDP is promising to work with Island Health and the community to deliver care for seniors on the site of the former Oak Bay Lodge if re-elected.
At a campaign announcement Wednesday, Oak Bay-Gordon Head B.C. NDP candidate Diana Gibson said: “We will redevelop Oak Bay Lodge, with a priority on health services for seniors, including primary care.”
The party says it will work with the health authority to “quickly” determine the best option to offer health-care support for seniors on the site, “starting with primary care,” and then explore long-term care and assisted-living options with Island Health and the community.
The health authority has been working with the Capital Regional Hospital District, which owns the 1.6-hectare property on Cadboro Bay Road, and the District of Oak Bay on potential future uses of the site since 2021.
Residents of the lodge, built in 1972, were moved to the Summit on Hillside Avenue before the building was demolished.
This year, Island Health put out a request for a consultant to look at how the rocky chunk of land where the now-demolished Oak Bay Lodge once stood could be redeveloped. A request for proposals in February called for consultants to do an economic feasibility study on the idea of developing the property with an “anchor” health service.
Possible other services, such as supportive housing and government-funded programs for housing and daycare, will be considered, the request said.
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch, chair of the Capital Regional Hospital District board, said Wednesday that a community survey and consultation process about two years ago resulted in “significant feedback” in favour of seniors care.
“So what the NDP is promising today is in alignment with that,” said Murdoch, “recognizing there’s a lot of details to work out around that.”
Murdoch said it’s hard to comment without seeing a detailed proposal, but “it’s fair to say the community definitely wants to see that land re-developed for the benefit of the region and the provision of health-care services, including long-term care, which would be one of those very viable options.” Murdoch said more generally, the city and the hospital district would like to see the land used for health care.
Stephen Andrew, the B.C. Conservative candidate in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, said a Conservative government would work with the community and “would certainly support the redevelopment of Oak Bay Lodge, if that’s what Oak Bay wants.”
The B.C. Conservatives are promising to deliver 5,000 long-term care beds across the province by 2030, improve long-term care practices and infrastructure, provide financial assistance for critical devices like eyeglasses, hearing aids, and mobility aids, cover the cost of essential vaccines, including shingles and high-dose flu shots, and streamline dementia care for seniors, from early diagnosis to advanced care.
The B.C. NDP and B.C. Greens have both promised to make SAFER (Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters) monthly rental assistance available to more seniors.
The B.C. NDP would provide free transit for seniors during non-peak hours, increase the senior’s supplement income top-up by $50 to $149 per month, and continue to provide common wages, benefits, and working conditions for health-care staff across public and private long-term care homes to attract and retain quality staff.
B.C. Green deputy leader Lisa Gunderson, who is running in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, said her mother ran an assisted-living residence in Florida for more than two decades, so the issue of seniors care “is close to my heart.” Gunderson said she appreciates “anyone who will create more spaces for seniors.”
If the B.C. NDP forms government and develops a publicly funded seniors facility on the site, however, she wants to ensure transparency so money doesn’t go into “bloated” administrative costs.
The B.C. Greens seniors’ platform promises to improve access to respite care, day programs, and at-home care services, increase the number of publicly funded long-term care beds by 10 per cent each year to meet demand, and establish a clear dementia strategy with support for family doctors to do more early screening for dementia.
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