Mike Goetz has added bill collector to his list of responsibilities as mayor of Merritt in British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 Interior.
In June, Goetz sent the province an invoice for $103,831.87, the cost, he said, for closures of the Nicola Valley Hospital emergency room.
He said the bill for the 19 closures last year and the first five closures this year includes a partial refund of what the city paid for hospital services, as well as the cost when firefighters respond to medical calls because paramedics are busy transporting patients to Kamloops, about 85 kilometres to the northeast.
And GST, of course.
Goetz said the costs would be equivalent to a one-per-cent increase in taxes for the community, unless the province picked up the tab, and came on top of the more than $600,000 the municipality already pays the province annually for its hospital.
sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 unacceptable to ask our taxpayers to pay for this system twice. Wesa国际传媒檝e paid for it once, we expect 365 days of coverage, because thatsa国际传媒檚 what you charged us for,sa国际传媒� he said.
The mayor isnsa国际传媒檛 alone in his frustration with the state of B.C.sa国际传媒檚 health system. Temporary emergency room shutdowns have hit rural and urban hospitals, hundreds of cancer patients have been sent across the U.S. border for radiation therapy, and theresa国际传媒檚 a shortage of nurses and doctors.
Itsa国际传媒檚 a central issue ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election, with the B.C. Conservatives offering sweeping changes and at least one major change promised by the governing New Democrats not set to be fully implemented until after the election.
Dr. Rita McCracken, a family doctor and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, said fixing the provincesa国际传媒檚 health-care system will require systemic changes, beyond hiring more employees.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 have enough people doing the jobs, but at the same time, we have a system that is made out of Scotch Tape and wet paper that wesa国际传媒檙e trying to graduate people and hire people into,sa国际传媒� she said.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad made health care the focus of his first major platform commitment in July, long before Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon suspended his BC United Partysa国际传媒檚 campaign and threw his support behind the Conservatives.
The Conservatives say that if elected they will pay to send more people outside the province for health care and expand the use of private clinics. Rustad has also promised to compensate health workers who lost their jobs for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
sa国际传媒淥ur health-care system in B.C. is in crisis. More than that, it is failing. More money into the system is not the solution,sa国际传媒� Rustad said in July.
Rustad faced criticism Monday over a video, circulated by the NDP, in which he tells a group of former public service employees who lost their jobs for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 that he wishes he hadnsa国际传媒檛 received three shots of the sa国际传媒渟o-called vaccine.sa国际传媒�
In the video from June, Rustad said hesa国际传媒檇 realized vaccination campaigns werensa国际传媒檛 about trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 but rather were sa国际传媒渁round shaping opinion and control on the population.sa国际传媒�
The BC Greens have said they want to establish community health centres in all 93 ridings in B.C. to replace the current network of urgent and primary care centres, saying they had failed to retain staff and provide patients with primary care connections.
Leader Sonia Furstenau said the plan would put sa国际传媒渢imely, comprehensive care all in one placesa国际传媒� and streamline referrals by giving access to doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and specialists within a patientsa国际传媒檚 community.
As health minister, Adrian Dix has acknowledged the provincesa国际传媒檚 struggles with health-care staffing that he said was a problem across the country.
In an interview with Global News over the Labour Day long weekend, when several emergency rooms were closed, Dix said the government was sa国际传媒渄oing absolutely everything we cansa国际传媒� and that sa国际传媒渨e donsa国际传媒檛 consider it ever acceptablesa国际传媒� for emergency rooms to close.
The province does not compile a public tally of emergency room closures but there have been dozens over the summer, in the Interior, north and elsewhere.
In the Interior Health region alone, there were 66 emergency room closures in the first half of 2024 because of a lack of either nurses or doctors.
Dix has said the province added 250,000 nursing hours sa国际传媒渋n the last number of yearssa国际传媒� and had 831 net new family doctors.
The NDP is promising that if re-elected it will expand when pharmacists can prescribe medications, reduce paperwork for doctors, add more physician assistants and expand the range of services they provide.
Leader David Eby said a re-elected government would provide immediate provisional licences for doctors, nurses, and midwives trained in Canada who stepped out of the system, and offer the same licences in six weeks for professionals trained in some regions outside of the country.
But McCracken said whoever wins in October will have more to worry about than hiring. She said the next government has to do a better job of quantifying exactly what is required, and understanding the system so that doctors want to stay where they are most needed.
sa国际传媒淲e havensa国际传媒檛 really been addressing sa国际传媒� and it echoes over into nursing and emergency rooms and in all the different places sa国际传媒� that we have not created a sophisticated-enough assessment of what we need to be providing care,sa国际传媒� she said.
Ahead of the election the The BC College of Family Physicians and BC Family Doctors published a series of requests for its members from the next government, including access to extended health and dental benefits, sick days and a pension plan.
They say the government needs to reduce paperwork and fund additional supports like nurses in family medicine clinics.
The organizations estimate more than 700,000 British Columbians donsa国际传媒檛 have access to a family doctor and nearly 40 per cent of family doctors are set to retire or reduce clinical hours within five years.
McCracken said under the NDP government there had been sa国际传媒渟ome very significant shifts in the right direction,sa国际传媒� pointing to a new payment model for doctors launched in 2023, but added such moves represented sa国际传媒渢he first two or three steps of probably 100 that we need to take in order to stabilize the system.sa国际传媒�
Adriane Gear, president of the BC Nursessa国际传媒� Union said working in an emergency room was a particularly challenging role.
sa国际传媒淣urses have tried their very best to hold up the system. But you can only work short staffed so often. You can only know that yousa国际传媒檙e actually not providing the care that people need so many times. And then you look around and you go, sa国际传媒榶ou know what? This is killing me,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� she said.
She said the union wanted a promise from political leaders to continue working on meeting nurse-patient ratios.
In March, B.C. announced it would be the first province to implement such a policy, something Gear said had helped retain and recruit nurses in other countries.
In the days leading up to the election campaign in September, the NDP government announced a series of agreed-to ratios including one nurse to three patients for general emergency room visits, 1:1 for trauma, and 1:4 for short surgical stays.
It said implementation would begin this fall.
Gear said she wanted a similar promise from the other party leaders if they are elected.
McCracken described health care as sa国际传媒渨hack-a-mole these dayssa国际传媒� with multiple serious issues popping up that affect voters.
sa国际传媒漌hen yousa国际传媒檙e having a health crisis and you realize you need to drive for 3 1/2 hours in the middle of the night, that just brings up a lot of feelings, and I think itsa国际传媒檚 going to get transmitted to active discussions during the campaign,sa国际传媒� she said.
In Merritt, Goetz said in an interview near the end of August that he had not received a response to the bill from Dix. But if he doesnsa国际传媒檛 get one, he said he was sa国际传媒渟ending it to collections.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e called it a house on fire, and thatsa国际传媒檚 exactly what it is,sa国际传媒� he said.
