CTV News on CTV - Canadian television's online home for news and entertainment

Friends of a Vancouver Island senior struggling to keep food in her fridge are raising concerns that the government isn't meeting the basic needs of vulnerable elderly people.

Health officials decided last fall that 77-year-old May-Britt Magnusson, who suffers from dementia, wasn't able to take care of her own affairs and the public guardian and trustee took over management of her financial and legal matters. The Vancouver Island Health Authority provides home care support at her house in Qualicum Beach, but Magnusson's friends have become increasingly concerned about her well-being.

"She doesn't have the proper care. She's got no food, and she can't go get her hair done, can't get the pedicure she desperately needs because she has a foot issue and she can't feed her dog. Who does that to someone?" friend Patricia Taylor told CTV News.

Magnusson has no family and says she relies on her friends to get by.

"They do whatever they can. They give me food and help me out and whatever I need. They're always asking, ‘Can I do this for you?'" she said.

But sometimes their help isn't enough.

"When there's no food, there's not even any food for my dog. That makes me sad," she said, breaking down into tears.

CTV News reviewed Magnusson's home care log and found several entries in which workers documented the lack of food.

On Feb. 12, a worker wrote: "Concerned about lack of food & no info as to who or when shopping will be happening." An entry from the next day reads: "There is frozen meat & veggies here but NO staples."

At other times, entries show that Magnusson ran out of her medication -- an inhaler.

Late Tuesday, the health authority told CTV News it has hired a private company to help Magnusson, but there is no word yet on when that service will begin.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee