Access to healthcare remains one of the biggest issues facing people on the mid-Island, with candidates weighing in on their priorities if elected in October. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

primary care

Election 2024: Candidate priorities on healthcare options across central Vancouver Island

Oct 17, 2024 | 12:10 PM

NANAIMO — NanaimoNewsNOW is continuing our local coverage of the 2024 provincial election, with a focus on four central Island ridings.

Our Election Centre is live, featuring the latest campaign news, candidate profiles, voter information and more.

As part of this coverage, we sent a survey to the 13 candidates running in the Nanaimo-Gabriola, Nanaimo-Lantzville, Ladysmith-Oceanside and Mid-Island Pacific Rim ridings, to gauge their thoughts on priority topics in the area.

The final in a four-part series leading up to general voting day on Oct. 19, focuses on candidate thoughts around healthcare on central Vancouver Island, including campaigning for additional infrastructure at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

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Question: Local advocacy groups are calling for immediate investment in primary healthcare services across the central and northern Island regions, including additional capital investments for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. What steps will you take to improve access to healthcare in the riding, particularly with regard to primary care physicians and access to specialists?

BC Green Party candidate Shirley Lambrecht said the party would use a “Dogwood model” of healthcare delivery to establish healthcare centres in every riding in the province.

She said the smaller health centres would help alleviate strain on major care locations, such as NRGH.

“these centers will provide space as an option for primary care physicians and an expanded list of health care providers, including mental health care, to provide care collaboratively and more efficiently without the added burden of office management and administration.”

Lambrecht added the party would increase hiring to connect more people with primary care physicians, and support expansion of nurse practitioners in B.C.

More on Lambrecht is available here.

Sheila Malcolmson of the BC NDP said the party has made significant strides in providing quality healthcare over recent years on the mid-Island, including more ambulances in Nanaimo, a reduction of surgical wait times and infrastructure investments at NRGH.

“We have invested over $700 million in expanded health care at NRGH; including a new cancer centre, a newly announced patient tower at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and my advocacy will continue until everyone in Nanaimo Gabriola gets the quality care they deserve.”

She said more spaces were added to the UBC medical school, and construction of a new school in Surrey is in the works.

Malcolmson also said the NDP is working to make it easier for internationally-trained healthcare workers to transfer their credentials to B.C.

More on Malcolmson is available here.

BC Conservative candidate Dale Parker said the BC Conservatives would build a new patient tower at NRGH, and ensure there is a cath lab for cardiac care.

“I have actively supported the Fair Care Alliance and listened to their needs, all backed by facts. This work is long overdue, and the situation is dire. There are currently suffering and fatalities as a result of the lack of adequate facilities.”

He added a “Patients First care model” would enable people to access care sooner, while the government would devote more resources to front line care, in part by hiring more nurses.

More on Parker is available here.

Question: Local advocacy groups are calling for immediate investment in primary healthcare services across the central and northern Island regions, including additional capital investments for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. What steps will you take to improve access to healthcare in the riding, particularly with regard to primary care physicians and access to specialists?

George Anderson of the BC NDP said healthcare was one of the issues he’s heard most during the campaign, and touted NDP action over recent years to hire new family doctors and begin construction on a new urgency primary care centre in Nanaimo.

He said commitments to a new patient tower at NRGH is among many investments.

“Our BC NDP government has invested over $1.5 million to increase the number of direct care hours for seniors living in care homes in Nanaimo. We have invested in over 300 new long-term care beds for a facility in Lantzville, and made major investments into Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH), including building a new ICU, high-acuity unit, and cancer care centre.”

Anderson said it was critical to have high quality healthcare for residents north of the Malahat, centred around NRGH.

More on Anderson is available here.

BC Conservative Party candidate Gwen O’Mahony said morale in the healthcare system “is at an all time low”.

She said the BC Conservatives would repeal Bill 36, “to remove the political control imposed by the NDP” and re-empower physicans and other healthcare professionals with autonomy.

O’Mahony said she wants to create a modern, transparent and accountable healthcare system in B.C.

“We will implement zero tolerance on illicit drug use in hospitals. In doing so, we’ll create an environment that will attract physicians and specialists instead of driving them to other jurisdictions.”

More on O’Mahony is available here.

Lia Versaevel of the BC Green Party said a shortage of primary care physicians in B.C. is due, in part, to affordability and demands for a work-life balance.

She said the Green Party would create healthcare service hubs “to increase accessibility to service as and when they are needed.”

“These hubs will include a wide spectrum of professionals and services reducing the need for people to travel great distances to access the care that they need.”

Versaevel said barriers must be removed for healthcare professionals coming to Canada to live and work, as well as training of new doctors and nurses in B.C.

More on Versaevel is available here.

Question: Local advocacy groups are calling for immediate investment in primary healthcare services across the central and northern Island regions, including additional capital investments for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. What steps will you take to improve access to healthcare in the riding, particularly with regard to primary care physicians and access to specialists?

Stephanie Higginson from the BC NDP said healthcare is the number one issues for people in community, especially easy access to a family doctor or primary care physician.

She said she’s directly affected, as her family does not have a family doctor.

“The BC NDP is taking action to train and hire more doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers than ever before. There is a new intensive care unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, a new cardiac unit under construction, and a commitment to build a new patient tower, as well as the Flowerstone Family Health Clinic that has a team of 23 health professionals.”

Higginson said the NDP commitment to healthcare improvement was one of the reasons she opted to run for the party in this election.

More on Higginson is available here.

Independent candidate Adam Walker said during his time as an NDP MLA, he received little to no movement from the health ministry regarding improved facilities at NRGH.

“We were told repeatedly that the government had spent enough north of the Malahat and it wasn’t going to happen. As an independent MLA, I teamed up with the Fair Care Alliance, health professionals, and patients to publicly put pressure on the government, and it worked.”

He said 12,000 people in the Oceanside area are waiting to be connected with a family doctor, thousands more in Ladysmith are in the same situation.

Walker also said he’s developed a new plan for a local health centre, and has publicly committed to bringing new “community-led clinics” to the region.

More on Walker is available here.

BC Conservative candidate Brett Fee and BC Green Party candidate Laura Ferreira did not submit survey responses before a Tuesday, Oct. 8 deadline.

Question: Local advocacy groups are calling for immediate investment in primary healthcare services across the central and northern Island regions, including additional capital investments for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. What steps will you take to improve access to healthcare in the riding, particularly with regard to primary care physicians and access to specialists?

Adam Hayduk of the BC Conservatives said being on a wait list “is not access to healthcare” and the system needs to change in order to get people in B.C. the care they need.

He said the Conservatives will implement a suite of “patient first health care solutions” including a wait time guarantee and a new “activity-based funding” model.

“This change will see hospitals, Regional Health Authorities, and/or other non-government facilities funded based on their output – each time they treat patients for specific diagnostic and priority procedures, they receive additional funds.”

Hayduk said the approach would help bring more healthcare professionals to B.C. and reduce the number of administrators needed.

More on Hayduk is available here.

BC NDP candidate Josie Osborne said the NDP has focused on improving healthcare outcomes over the last seven years, increasing access to the system.

“It’s making a difference with a record number of new family doctors on Vancouver Island, an expanded ER in Port Alberni, a new UPCC in Comox Valley, supporting Primary Care Networks, a new clinic in Cumberland and clinics soon in Coombs and Ucluelet, and more.”

She said a re-elected NDP would expand the Travel Assistance Program for rural residents, and invest in large scale upgrades to NRGH including the patient tower and the Cancer Centre, which was originally promised during the 2020 campaign.

Osborne added she remains focused on additional resources for the west coast of Vancouver Island, including a replacement hospital in Tofino and better supports for rural residents on Hornby and Denman Islands.

More on Osborne is available here.

BC Green Party candidate Ross Reid did not submit survey responses before a Tuesday, Oct. 8 deadline.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff