[BURNABY] - The Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) says the re-announcement of provincial investment in Burnaby Hospital is good news for the community and for the health care workers who keep the hospital running every day.
“Burnaby Hospital workers have been carrying extraordinary pressure, and this investment is welcome news for patients, families and staff,” says Lynn Bueckert, HEU's secretary-business manager. “But hospital capacity and long-term care capacity are deeply connected. If seniors cannot be discharged safely into appropriate long-term care, the pressure does not disappear -- it lands on hospitals, workers and families.”
HEU says the province should match its renewed commitment to Burnaby Hospital with a clear commitment to move ahead with the public, long-term care projects that were delayed in Budget 2026 and later saw construction contracts cancelled, including long-term care projects in Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kelowna.
A new report from economist Jim Stanford and the Centre for Future Work makes the same point -- B.C. cannot meet growing care needs by delaying urgently needed public long-term care construction. The report argues that long-term care should be treated as major public infrastructure because it creates jobs, builds lasting public assets and provides care that thousands of British Columbians are waiting for.
“A hospital announcement in Burnaby is important, and workers will welcome it,” says Bueckert. “But government also needs to show that long-term care is part of the same health care infrastructure plan. You cannot solve hospital overcrowding while leaving seniors waiting for the care spaces they need.”
The Centre for Future Work report released today notes that B.C. needs approximately 1,600 net additional subsidized long-term care beds annually over the next decade, while the province added an average of about 240 annually over the six years examined. It also finds that higher private borrowing costs can significantly increase the public cost of building care capacity over time.
HEU is calling on government to publish a firm construction timetable for the deferred and cancelled public long-term care projects by the next provincial budget, and to ensure public dollars build public and non-profit care.
“This is the moment for government to connect the dots,” says Bueckert. “Investing in hospitals matters. So does building the long-term care homes that allow seniors to receive appropriate care, support families, and reduce avoidable pressure on hospitals. Burnaby deserves both -- and so do communities across B.C.”
The HEU represents more than 60,000 health care workers across British Columbia, including tens of thousands of workers in long-term care.