By Grant Warkentin
There’s still some hope a long-promised care home for seniors in Campbell River may yet be built.
As Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma and Premier David Eby scramble today to explain why four long-term care facilities on the Mainland and improvements to the Burnaby hospital have been cancelled, communities north and south of the Oyster River have joined forces to get Campbell River’s project back on the table, after it was left out of the provincial budget in February.
“I am pleased to advise that we have been successful in securing a meeting with the Minister of Intrastructure, Bowinn Ma. That meeting will take place in mid-May,” said James Warren, Chief Administrative Officer of the Comox Valley Regional District, in a recent letter to his fellow CAOs from the Comox Valley north to Zeballos.
Capital health care projects in the region are funded by the Comox Strathcona Regional Hospital District, which has been prepared for years to cover its $54 million contribution for the $134 million care home planned next to Yucalta Lodge. When February’s provincial budget revealed a long-term care home in Campbell River, promised personally by Premier David Eby in 2023, wasn’t getting funded, the board took action and has since solicited letters of support from most local governments in the region.
So far Courtenay, Campbell River, the Comox Valley Regional District, and Strathcona Regional District have formally supported the push, with a letter from Zeballos also expected.
“Council is concerned that the province’s recent budget has resulted in this important project being placed on hold,” says a letter of support from Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells. “Communities throughout the Comox Valley and North Island are already experiencing significant pressures on long‑term care capacity, with direct impacts on patients, families, and caregivers. Further delays risk exacerbating these challenges and limiting access to appropriate care close to home.”
The pressure campaign is working – Warren said the May meeting with Ma will include Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl, hospital board chair Doug Hillian, and hospital board vice-chair Robin Mawhinney.
The long-term care home was supposed to start construction in 2025, but ground was never broken at the 375 2nd Avenue property.
The facility, if built, will create 153 new long-term care beds, a 10-bed hospice unit, a 26-bed convalescent care unit, and a 26-bed specialized population unit.
Former NDP MLA Michelle Babchuk cheered on the announcement in 2023.
“The range of services in the new care home will give seniors, and their loved ones, peace of mind knowing they will be supported with the health care they need, close to home,” she said at the time.
Plans for similar facilities in Nanaimo and Colwood announced in 2023 have not been shelved, but projects in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Delta, Fort St John, and Squamish have.
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