VICTORIA, B.C. – Today, the Minister of Health announced a five-year health human resources strategy along with 70 recommendations to improve healthcare in British Columbia. Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley, has issued the following statement:
“We are pleased to see the BC NDP provide the public with a comprehensive plan for staffing in our provincial healthcare system. They have put care for patients at the center of their plan. Healthcare workers have been feeling moral distress about not being able to provide the best care for their patients. This plan, when fully implemented, will help alleviate that distress.
“Opening options for pharmacists to administer medications for those without a family doctor, expanding services for first responders, more access to education in medical school, and recruitment and retention plans are good steps to alleviate immediate pressures.
“If we are to see systemic changes in 2023, this strategy needs accountable timelines with tangible actions. I am very concerned about nurses and family doctors leaving the profession, as this has an enormous impact on healthcare delivery.
“It is critical that this government recognizes that primary care and family doctors are the backbone of the healthcare system. Community-based, preventative-focused health care is what will keep the system sustainable in the long term.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
BC Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]