Protest planned over Surrey Memorial Hospital’s underfunding

Frustrated doctors say people still aren’t getting the care they need at Surrey Memorial Hospital and they plan on doing something about it this weekend.

Health care workers are planning a rally outside Surrey City Hall on Saturday afternoon with the hopes of getting the B.C. government to increase funding at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

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Organizer of the protest, Dr. Randeep Gill, says the province’s healthcare system is broken, with many people being transferred elsewhere for care due to a lack of capacity at the Surrey hospital.

“This would never be acceptable if this was residents of Vancouver that need to leave their city for life-saving interventions when time is of the essence. This is due to a lack of proactive planning and chronic underinvestment in our city and south of the Fraser,” he said in a video posted online.

“Imagine a person living in Vancouver that has a heart attack or a stroke, but they cannot get any intervention in that region and now needs to be transferred over a bridge or through a tunnel to get their treatment in the Valley. That clearly would not fly for any Vancouver resident.”

Gill, who has been an ER doctor at Surrey Memorial for 10 years, says the issues at the hospital need more attention.

“Not once in those last 10 years have I heard of a Vancouver pregnant mother requiring to be transferred to Surrey Memorial for a delivery. Yet, thousands of Surrey moms need to leave our city due to a lack of capacity here at Surrey Memorial Hospital,” he said.

“The illest children and the sickest adults need to be transferred out of Surrey Memorial Hospital for a higher level of care because we do not have the life-saving interventions here locally, south of the Fraser.”

In July, the Surrey Hospitals Foundation published a report outlining recommendations for addressing the healthcare “crisis” in the Fraser Health Authority, with many focused issues at Surrey Memorial Hospital. The recommendations include a city-wide task force comprised of local healthcare workers and the urgent need for a second tower at the hospital.

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The protest is planned for Surrey City Hall from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that Doctors of BC was planning the protest. It has since been revised to reflect that the organization is not affiliated with the demonstration.