(Photo credit: Interior Health)

By Lorne Doerkson, MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: NDP continue to downplay B.C.’s health care crisis

Jul 28, 2022 | 12:11 PM

WEEK AFTER WEEK, THE BC LIBERALS have been calling on the NDP government to do something about the deteriorating state of our health care system before the worst happens. Sadly, the very worst has happened.

In the past two weeks, two people have tragically lost their lives as a result of this crisis. A woman in North Vancouver passed away on a stretcher in the emergency room (ER) after waiting two days for treatment. And here in the Interior, an Ashcroft woman died of cardiac arrest because her local ER was closed and there was no local ambulance available to get to her in time. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to hear stories like this and I want to extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of these two individuals.

We know that B.C.’s health care crisis is not limited to these two hospitals. In my riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin, we’ve witnessed it firsthand. The ER at 100 Mile District General Hospital was closed twice in June, and late in the afternoon on Friday, July 22 we were informed that the ER would be on diversion overnight until the following Monday morning. Closures like this are becoming more common in B.C., and as we saw with the two tragic fatalities, they can have dire consequences. The impacts are compounded in rural B.C., where a closed ER could mean people have to travel hundreds of additional kilometres to find care.

Tragedies and closures like we’ve been seeing are beyond devastating, and it’s simply unacceptable that this is the current reality in our health care system. Our health care workers are doing everything they can to keep the system functioning, but our hospitals are completely overwhelmed and understaffed. There needs to be accountability, and real action to solve this crisis. When we look at how other provincial governments have responded to similar situations, we’ve seen examples of the minister responsible being replaced. New Brunswick’s health minister was recently fired following a traumatic death in the ER. When will we see similar accountability here in B.C.?

We need action, and we need answers. Government has a responsibility to be honest with people about the true state of health care, but the NDP continue to downplay the problems and avoid giving any details about how they are addressing the situation.

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Since we can’t seem to get those answers or much action from the NDP, the BC Liberals put forward a 30-day action plan to address issues around primary care, because we know that the lack of access to family doctors puts additional pressures elsewhere in the system. We’ve called for improved compensation for overhead and operating costs and an updated and simplified fee schedule, among other suggestions. Unfortunately, two weeks have gone by since we released our plan and we’ve heard nothing but crickets from the government.

We’ve also called for an audit to address the NDP’s Urgent and Primary Care Centres (UPCCs) which also remain understaffed. They are falling short of their goals to attach patients and are often at capacity just a few hours after opening. The NDP must acknowledge these shortcomings and organize a comprehensive audit to find out what’s going wrong and how they’re going to fix it.

Health care is absolutely critical, and people deserve to have confidence they will have access to the medical care they need in an emergency. But for far too many British Columbians, that is not possible right now. People deserve better.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.