If you’re looking for the actual number of people waiting for a nursing home bed in Nova Scotia, the government’s waiting list information doesn’t tell the whole story.
The province’s long-term care website only counts people still living at home, which is between 1,000 and 1,250 people, for the official waiting list. That leaves out those who are in hospital waiting for long-term care, as well as those in other “priority” categories set out by the government.
“We were aware of that, we’ve talked to them (government) about it in terms of it not really reflecting the actual number of people who are waiting,” said Bill VanGorder, spokesman for the seniors advocacy group CARP, in an interview Friday. “It only applies to people who are formally on the list. There are many other people we are aware of anecdotally.”