B.C. specialists urge province to address stress on health system
Posted September 23, 2022 8:33 am.
Last Updated September 23, 2022 8:35 am.
Specialists from across British Columbia are pushing the provincial government to alleviate backlogs that have worsened wait times, but the head of the Canadian Medical Association says the problem is countrywide.
Twenty-six specialists sent an open letter to Health Minister Adrian Dix, saying they want an urgent meeting with him due to a “crumbling” health-care system that is leaving them exhausted.
A total of 135 specialists had signed the letter after it was posted on the Consultant Specialists of B.C. website.
“If we do not work together to find solutions, Specialty care in this province is going to erode even further,” the letter reads, in part.
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It adds specialists “have been hampered by years of increasing challenges” that have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Patients are getting sicker and dying on our waitlists. Primary care providers, if available, do their best to support patients until they are seen. Urgent Primary Care Centres and Emergency departments are overwhelmed and can’t provide immediate access to Specialists. Increased admissions strain the already overburdened hospital system, and cost even more in both dollars and patient suffering,” the letter continues.
Doctor Chris Hoag, a urologist and one of the signatories, says a broad base of specialists joined forces to pressure the government to act because they’re burned out and demoralized.
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Dix has not responded to the letter, but the Health Ministry says the specialists could have their concerns addressed through Doctors of BC, the association that represents all physicians in their talks with the government.
Hoag says the province has already provided millions of dollars in temporary funding to family doctors for overhead costs, but hasn’t done the same for specialists, who need the same support.
Doctor Alika Fontaine of the Canadian Medical Association says the fact that so many specialists signed the letter is unprecedented, but the issue of long wait times has to be addressed collaboratively in all 13 jurisdictions.
