PC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon The BC Liberal Caucus is, for the second time, calling for a 30-day action plan to “help address the primary care crisis” in British Columbia. BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon is urging Health Minister Adrian Dix to make quick changes amid news of closed emergency rooms and people dying while waiting in care because of understaffing. In Ashcroft, two people died in less than a month waiting for care. In July, a woman died while waiting for a bed on a stretcher at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. “I would describe [the current system] in the same way that the premier of the province, which was collapsing, described it. It could be even worse than that,” says Falcon, who first released an action plan on July 12 before re-releasing it with additional solutions this month. “I hear from family doctors in every part of this province and believe me, we have a big problem and we need leadership and a plan to meet this challenge.” The action plan includes incentives to prevent doctors from leaving the province or country, introducing a simplified billing code to cut red tape and increasing payments to keep up with inflation. Falcon is also calling for an increase in the number of doctor training places from the current 288 to 400 and to make it smoother for international doctors to start work. “Many of these international medical graduates are actually Canadians studying abroad because they couldn’t get into UBC, or they chose to study in Australia or Ireland or the United States and want to come back and practice in British Columbia,” he says. Hawk. In response to Glacier Media, a BC government spokesperson said the pandemic has exacerbated BC’s health care challenges. “Our primary care system will not change overnight,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement. “There is still more work to do; we will continue to make the right investments to ensure that all British Columbians have access to the primary care provided by our public health. – system of care.’ The BC government outlined several health care initiatives it has launched since taking office, including:
Adding 38,000 health professionals to the system since 2018 Opening 27 emergency and primary care (UPCC). There are another 23 UPCCs scheduled to open by April 2025. Addition of 602 nursing positions at post-secondary institutions in the province $2.3 million commitment to support Practice Ready Assessment BC program for international medical graduates
BC Nurses Association vice-president Adriane Gear says the current state of BC’s health care system is “in crisis.”
“My concern is that it’s actually going to get worse. And I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like,” says Gear. “We talk to our members every day, and many of them are on the brink of leaving.” Nurses currently work copious overtime and face constant reshuffles to keep the system afloat, Gear says. The stress is even more unwarranted when combined with reported increases in aggression and violence experienced in the workplace by patients. Gear wants bold action focused on nurse recruitment and retention tactics to keep those currently working to “stop the bleeding.” “Nurses, frankly, feel resentful sometimes that it’s not fully recognized how dire the situation is,” says Gear. “And that in itself is so painful.” Dr. Atul Kapur, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, agrees that one of the most significant gaps in the health care system is the shortage of nurses. “We’ve been sounding the alarm about shortages of doctors and nurses for some time,” Kapur said, adding that the temporary closure of emergency rooms is of particular concern in rural areas because of the distance to the next hospital. Kapur hopes Canadian prime ministers will be pushed to prioritize the recruitment and retention of health professionals — and not just in the short term. The premiers are meeting in Victoria early this week, where one of the topics they will discuss is a call for the federal government to increase its share of health care spending from 22 to 35 per cent.
