Seniors are turning down long-term care beds far from home in N.W.T.

As the Northwest Territories population continues to age, theterritorial government is grappling with how to match the number of available long-term care beds with demand.

"We know the numbers [of seniors] are going to keep coming, so we need to continue to move forward with our long-term care [plan]," said Health Minister Glen AbernethyWednesdayat the Legislative Assembly's standing committee meeting on wait times for long-term care.

Health department staff presented a snapshot of the wait list from a single point in time in January, showing 31 people on the list for long-term care and six vacant beds.

Fourteen of those people on the wait list or 45 per cent had been offered a long-term care placement but declined it, according to Jo-Anne Hubert, assistant deputy minister with the Health Department.

Another five individuals were offered interim placements, with three accepting that offer and two declining, she said.

When questioned byMLAsabout why there were still vacant beds, Abernethysaidpeople may decline for personal reasons.

He explained some people may not want to move away from their home in order to access long-term care, so they decline the offer. For example, someone from Yellowknife may turn down a bed in Behchoko or Fort Simpson.

"I think we can all appreciate that," said Abernethy.

'A huge shock to people'

Beds could open up across the N.W.T.,andseniors on the wait list could beofferedcare based on those openings.

Barbara Hood, executive director of the NWT Seniors' Society, said seniors want to be close to their family and familiar surroundings when they reach the stage of their life that they need extra care.

"It's a big issue for a lot of people when they're told that no, for instance, if you live in Fort Smith and a bed has opened up in Inuvik, that you can't stay in your home community," she said.

"That's a huge shock to people."

Hood expressed empathy for people who decide to turn down offers of beds in other communities, adding it could have a detrimental impact on a person's well-being to make the move.

She said she hopes the creation of more long-term care beds will help remedy the issue something the government says it is working on.

Abernethy said there was a "major increase in seniors" in Yellowknife, as well as theBeaufort-Delta and South-Slave regions.

The additional 72 long-term care beds scheduled to go into the old Stanton hospital once the new health-care facility is complete are part of the government's plan to tackle that growing demand,while Hay River and possibly Fort Simpson could be places where beds are needed in the future, Abernethy said.

"Bottom line is we are working to keep all the beds full," he said.

• Shortage of long-term care beds in N.W.T. set to quadruple
• 72 long-term care beds could go inside old Stanton Territorial Hospital building