Dr. Joe Foster, a physician at NRGH for over 35 years, said the patient tower is woefully insufficient and sometimes forces complex medical procedures or conversations to happen in hallways, storage rooms or on desks. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

patient care

‘Fair access to healthcare:’ clear demands made to address ‘deadly and inefficient’ Nanaimo hospital

Sep 13, 2024 | 6:21 AM

NANAIMO — The message was loud and clear: central and north Island residents demand equitable access to healthcare compared to Vancouver Island’s southern tip.

Roughly 350 people crammed into the Beban Park Social Centre on Thursday, Sept. 12 for a rally organized by Fair Care Alliance, who are demanding the provincial government to fund two major additions: a catheterization lab (cardiac care) and a new patient tower at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH).

Alliance chair Donna Hais addressed the crowd, saying areas north of the Malahat get roughly one-fifth of Island healthcare funding, despite being home to more than half the Island’s population.

“It’s not about what political party you belong to, what race you are or gender, it’s about you as a human being. It’s about us, speaking with one voice about something that is critical and our basic right to fair access to healthcare,” Hais said.

The contrast between the two areas is startling.

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According to data presented by Hais on Thursday night, NRGH officially has 346 inpatient beds and roughly 70 specialists ranging in disciplines from cardiology and gastrointestinal care, to respiratory and psychiatric.

Two hospitals south of the Malahat feature a combined 844 inpatient beds and nearly 290 specialists.

Alliance chair Donna Hais spoke about how understaffed of specialists NRGH is when compared to hospitals in the Victoria region. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Dire need for cath lab
With only two specialists and no proper infrastructure, several medical experts and other stakeholders spoke about the desperate need for a catheterization lab at NRGH.

Dr. David Coupland, president of the hospital’s medical staff association, told NanaimoNewsNOW cath labs became the standard of care in 2005 in a bid to provide better outcomes for people who’ve experienced a heart attack.

“Ninety minutes is the optimal time, the max is two hours [to get into a cath lab]…time is important so distance is important and if you can’t get there within two hours, you’re too far.”

He said a best case scenario for most patients who present to NRGH with severe cardiac issues is around four hours to get access to a cath lab in Victoria or Vancouver.

As a stop-gap measure, patients in Nanaimo are given an injection, thrombolysis, to attempt to break up a clot. The technique is considered extremely outdated and is no longer taught as a treatment option.

Dr. Coupland said it only works around a third of the time and can have severe side effects, including brain bleeding and stroke.

“That was shown to be far less safe and far less effective than opening up [the heart and related areas] in a cath lab with the balloons. That was the standard of care was back when, and any centre of size doesn’t do it and they don’t want to do it.”

Dr. David Coupland told the gathered crowd delayed access to proper cardiac care endangers lives both in the short and long term. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

A delay in accessing proper cardiac care can also have devastating ripple effects.

Dr. Coupland said the central and north Island is the largest region in Canada not to have this needed infrastructure, while also suffering what he dubbed an epidemic of cardiac issues.

“That’s the big life years lost. If you survive the heart attack and you had your artery opened in a cath lab, you might have lived another 25 years but if you survive it…and you’ve damaged muscle, you might only survive five years.”

“Deadly and inefficient” patient tower at NRGH
Built in 1962, the patient tower at NRGH is another more substantial demand from the Alliance.

Estimated to cost between $2 and $3 billion, a new tower would replace the existing facility which is constantly overcrowded and featuring many areas which are outdated and wholly insufficient for patients and staff.

Dr. Joe Foster, an NRGH physician since 1988, said the hospital is routinely well over capacity, leading to patients receiving care in inappropriate places.

“Sometimes you’re giving people cancer diagnosis while they’re in a hallway, sometimes you’re doing a resuscitation on a patient in a hallway or a closet. It’s an extremely inefficient and dangerous way to do medicine.”

He added due to a lack of specialists and overcrowding in every department at Nanaimo hospital, patients are often stuck waiting for extended periods of time which can have serious consequences.

Foster told the crowd “we are killing people with this facility, there is no question” due to waits to receive medical care.

“It’s difficult to get patients in to see a specialist in a timely fashion, they get stuck in the emergency department sometimes for days on end. They’re transferred back and forth between floors and continual turnovers, which are difficult times in terms of putting patients at risk because you don’t have a continuity of care from a single provider.”

Signs available at the rally included many of the Alliance’s key messages, such as fair access to healthcare across Vancouver Island. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Where is the provincial government?
While several investments have come from the province in recent years for additional services at NRGH, the government has remained publicly quiet on both of the Alliance’s main asks.

Ian Thorpe, chair of the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District board, said they’ve had several conversations with health minister Adrian Dix over the years but response to local needs has been mixed.

Thorpe said while Dix is aware of the Alliance’s campaign, a recent meeting saw direct conversations about a cath lab at NRGH and disparities between Nanaimo and Victoria.

“His reply was that it was “not fair to compare one region against another”, Thorpe relayed to the crowd. “I’ll tell you what’s not fair…inequitable healthcare facilities for our region.”

Thorpe added the board is responsible for 40 per cent of all capital expenditures at the hospital, money which can only come from taxation.

“Over the past three years, we have deliberately and aggressively raised our hospital tax levy,” Thorpe said. “Raising taxes is not something a politician would normally be proud of or brag about, but I am proud of this because by doing this we are showing the government that we think this is extremely important.”

While minister Dix has stated multiple times over the past year that additional investments in NRGH will be made, nothing appears to be imminent from a capital funding perspective for a cath lab or new patient tower.

Non-partisan issue
Organizers for the event stated multiple times the demand for healthcare was not a party versus party issue, but one for all residents to unite behind.

Candidates running in the 2024 provincial election were invited to sign a pledge to support the Alliance’s goals if elected in October.

Announced candidates from the BC Greens’ (Shirley Lambrecht and Lia Versaevel) Conservative Party of BC (Brett Fee, Gwen O’Mahony and Dale Parker), along with Ladysmith-Oceanside incumbent independent MLA Adam Walker, all signed.

No candidates announced by the BC NDP were seen at the meeting.

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