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By Lorne Doerkson, MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: B.C.’s health care system moves closer to collapse

Mar 14, 2024 | 10:30 AM

EVERY BRITISH COLUMBIAN deserves access to timely and dignified health care.

This week in the B.C. legislature, I shared the heart-wrenching story of an elderly man from my community who was neglected in a hospital bed, left with his feet hanging over the rails to avoid laying in his own waste.

The lack of basic care and dignity inflicted upon this man is unacceptable. Yet this is just one of the many alarming stories coming to light as our provincial health care system moves towards collapse.

Despite record funding, and the NDP’s record-setting budget deficit, health care across the province continues to deteriorate.

One in five British Columbians do not have a family doctor, hundreds of thousands wait for medical imaging, and B.C. has the longest walk-in clinic wait times in the country.

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Our healthcare heroes are facing burnout. Daily, doctors and nurses are faced with understaffed facilities, long hours, and an overwhelming patient load. The staffing vacancy rate for Interior Health has spiked from 5.1 percent in 2019 to 13.7 percent in 2023.

Emergency rooms (ERs) across the province are chronically understaffed, leading to frequent shutdowns. Rural communities bear the brunt of these closures as one physician calling in sick can shut down entire clinics, leaving patients with no choice but to travel hours for emergency care.

Last October, a sign was posted at Cariboo Memorial Hospital that read “the emergency room is closed unless patient is imminently dying.” Staff were so burnt out and overworked that they lacked the capacity to provide care to all but those in the most dire of situations.

In a similar vein, last summer nurses at Bulkley Valley District Hospital were advised to call 911 for patient emergencies due to the absence of ER doctors.

This has become the “new normal” under Adrian Dix and David Eby.

Action is desperately needed to address the critical situation unfolding at the Cariboo Memorial Hospital and in communities across B.C.

We need real solutions. Solutions that bring in more health care workers and new efforts to retain our current staff.

British Columbia is the only place in North America still barring unvaccinated healthcare workers from returning to their jobs.

In the midst of a health care crisis that is seeing ER closures across the province, we need a government that prioritizes people over ideology.

That’s why, our BC United Caucus continues to call on the NDP government to bring back the thousands of unvaccinated health care workers.

It’s essential that we support our medical professionals, addressing burnout and staffing shortages.

Health care is a fundamental right. Seven years of the NDP have broken our health care system but BC United has a real plan to return quality health care to British Columbians.

United we will fix it.

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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.