Is British Columbia’s Healthcare on Life Support?

Nov 27

Guest: Dr. Brian Day

On this edition of Journal: healthcare.

How can we ever have a meaningful discussion on how to improve healthcare delivery in Canada when we aren’t even allowed to ask the question? Medicare is perfect – until it isn’t.

Tangentially, this reminds me of the President Biden situation, when all his spokespeople were insisting that he was in perfect health until the public saw with their own eyes during the debate – that, in fact, something was very wrong.

So what are we seeing with our own eyes about healthcare delivery?

All seven OB-GYNY doctors – the entire unit – resigned their positions in the Kamloops hospital, citing unsafe working conditions and staff shortages.

People in Kelowna were told in the spring that the entire pediatric team at Kelowna General Hospital was being closed down due to poor working conditions.

Last year, British Columbia started sending some of our cancer patients to Bellingham, in the US, because we couldn’t guarantee timely treatment.

And of course, our headlines are filled with ER closures around the province: Merritt, Mission, Delta, and on and on. I can’t imagine the family that showed up in the middle of the night with a sick child, only to find the ER closed, thinking our healthcare system is just fine.

And I haven’t even mentioned waitlists and the shortage of family physicians.

One man who has been warning of this impending crisis since 1995 is Dr. Brian Day. He has devoted years – 13 of them – in court fighting provincial and federal governments, trying to be heard.

Brian has recently written a book: “My Fight for Canadian Healthcare.”