A B.C. senior has been forced to live in a hospital after being displaced by a fire at his Mission retirement home more than two months ago.
On the afternoon of March 9, a massive fire tore through the top floors of Chartwell Carrington House near 7 Avenue and Cedar Valley Connector, displacing all 142 residents.
Ed Jamieson, who was on the second floor of the home, luckily escaped uninjured. But almost a dozen weeks later, he says he doesn’t feel so lucky anymore.
Ed has so far been passed over for long-term care despite being told he’s “at the top of the list”.
But Ed’s son, Carl Jamieson, says, “The top of the list does not really mean top of the list at all.”
“To be candid, Dad has said that he just really doesn’t want to go on. I’ve done my best to rally things so that he understands that there is some light at the end of the tunnel, but, my goodness, we’d sure like to see it soon.”
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Carl describes the process of advocating for his father to get into a publicly funded care home as a nightmare.
“Dad has been classified by Fraser Health, under two different assessments, as an ‘intolerable risk,’” said Carl, explaining it’s due to his complex needs and history of smoking.
“At the end of the day, the provincially funded long-term carers get to pick and choose who their next participant is.”
Ed says is doesn’t feel good, waiting to be selected.
While staying in a hospital setting, Ed contracted a facial infection and a bad case of the flu. He occupies a bed that Carl says he’s been told is worth $2,000 per day.
“A year at that rate, we’re going to spend three quarters of $1 million on one fella. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
The Fraser Health Authority wouldn’t share how much a bed costs to operate per day.
Critics say the difficulty the Jamiesons are having is far from unique and a symptom of a population that’s aging faster than the government is building new beds.
In its 2026 budget, the province said it was conducting a full review of B.C.’s long-term care infrastructure program to find ways to bring costs down. That includes ‘streamlining mechanical, electrical, and engineering systems’ for better efficiency and looking at modular construction options.
It says once the process is complete, the province will be able to establish revised completion dates for projects and expand long-term care capacity with greater certainty in the years ahead.
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The revisions have included one project that would have produced 300 long-term care beds at Langley Memorial Hospital.
Conservative MLA for Abbotsford South Bruce Banman says “enough’s enough.”
He says the BC NDP has cancelled thousands of desperately needed long-term care beds.
“They have blown the money, they’re out of money. And now who’s paying? Seniors that need a place in their last years of life,” said Banman.
‘It’s time to start restoring dignity to British Columbians and getting the health care that they have paid for and deserve.”
The province has insisted those projects aren’t cancelled, and are instead coming in future budgets.
A representative for Fraser Health says it’s in ongoing contact with the Jamiesons to provide support, care and answer their questions about next steps. There’s no timeline for when Ed can move out of hospital.