Nursing homes on P.E.I. are having to rely on immigration to fill staff positions, the provincial association told a legislative committee Wednesday.

P.E.I. Nursing Home Association Bob Nutbrown told the committee staffing for long-term care facilities is a national issue.

"Immigration has become part of the solution for this problem," said Nutbrown.

"While all of our homes have promoted local employment, there is insufficient interest at the local level in this industry. We encourage the government to take steps to increase local interest from workers, and at the same time to promote the necessary immigration."

Nutbrown also talked about lessons for the nursing home industry from the pandemic.

While homes on the Island have been successful at keeping coronavirus out, he said the homes were not built for dealing with pandemics. They need to build more isolation rooms to better deal with any future pandemics.

Nutbrown told the committee dementia patients are a growing concern.

Extra security is required at homes to deal with these patients, he said, because they have a tendency to wander.

Both the isolation rooms and security for dementia patients would require more funding, he said.