Hundreds of long term care beds headed to the Okanagan and Kamloops next year

The province is planning to provide 420 new long term care beds in the Okanagan and Kamloops next year, B.C.'s Minister of Health Adrian Dix said today, July 13.

That number includes 140 beds in Kelowna, 100 in Kamloops and 90 each for Penticton and Vernon.

Another 75 beds will be built in Nelson for a total of 495 in the Southern Interior.

Calls for proposals will be released today and evaluated in the fall with announcements of the successful applicants to be announced in December or January.

Construction will start in the new year and add to the 6,000 long term care beds already in the Interior Health region, which spans from the Cariboo to the Alberta and U.S. borders.

It’s expected that the number of seniors over the age of 75 will increase by 28 per cent over the next five years.

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