Yuri Fulmer (Image Credit: Yuri Fulmer)

By Michael Reeve

BC Conservative Leadership Race

Leadership hopeful Fulmer unveils rural healthcare plan ahead of campaign stop in Kamloops

Jan 30, 2026 | 4:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — Yuri Fulmer will be the first BC Conservative leadership race contender to hold a campaign event in Kamloops this weekend as he stops into the Tournament Capital on Saturday (Jan. 31). So far, eight candidates have announced their campaigns, including Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

Fulmer is unveiling his first policy plank of the contest, looking to tackle the challenges around rural health care, which has seen countless emergency room closures in place like Merritt, 100 Mile, Clearwater and Lillooet, speaking to the importance of short and long term solutions.

“First is a bit of an emergency response where we need to make sure emergency rooms, maternity wards, are all open all of the time,” said Fulmer. “And we are going to create almost a team — like you would if there was a fire in your community. If there is a problem in your community we will fly in doctors and nurses and whatever we need to do on a priority basis to keep emergency rooms, maternity wards, and all the healthcare services you require in your community open, we will do that while we develop a longer term plan.”

Fulmer’s plan, which he states will be enacted within 180 days of taking the premier’s office with the Tories, also details expanding the role of pharmacists to help take some strain off physicians.  

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It also speaks to expansion of nursing programs at universities like Thompson Rivers University.

“How do we educate them where they live, so that they will want to stay?” Fulmer told CFJC News. “We have all of these plans to bring people from somewhere else, we may have to do that as well. But we know there are people that are born and raised in this communities that want to get an education that will allow them to serve their community as a health practitioners, we need to enable that.”

CFJC News will have more from Fulmer on Saturday.