Photo via Dan Levitt/LinkedIn

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province’s new seniors advocate is Dan Levitt, an adjunct professor of gerontology at Simon Fraser University and the head of a non-profit long-term care home.

Levitt says he’s “deeply honoured” to be appointed the province’s second seniors advocate, and thanked current advocate Isobel Mackenzie, who is retiring in April.

He says the demographic shift as the population ages means it’s important to start “rethinking aging” and no longer view it as something to fear but something to embrace.

Levitt says his first priority will be travelling the province to meet seniors in rural and urban centres to hear their concerns and produce reports on how to improve their lives.

Mackenzie says it’s “bittersweet” to be leaving the role, but she has “great confidence” in the team that chose Levitt as her successor.

She says she’s thankful for Dix’s “unwavering support” during her tenure.

The health minister said that Levitt had championed the rights of seniors for three decades, and the government would work with the advocate to improve seniors’ lives.

According to the B.C. government, the seniors’ advocate “acts in the interest of seniors and their caregivers,” by monitoring care and supports for seniors provided by the province and private industry, and producing regular reports and recommendations on how they are functioning.