2023-05-16 03:03:34
Health Minister Adrian Dix made the announcement Monday at a news briefing in Vancouver.
Transportation, accommodation and treatment costs will be covered 100% by the government.
A support team will help patients during their treatment by arranging their appointments, coordinating and facilitating their travel, and being present when they return to their regional cancer treatment center
says the minister.
A major crisis
according to the opposition
BC United party health spokesperson Shirley Bond says the health care system is in dire straits appalling
and this ad is proof of that.
We’ve been sounding the alarm about cancer care and prolonged wait times in British Columbia for months, she says. Today, it is finally the recognition by this government, by this minister, that we are facing a major crisis
.
BC United calls on the government speed up the accreditation process
foreign health professionals wishing to practice in the province.
We’re sending patients out of the country instead of making sure we bring additional healthcare workers to BC
, says Shirley Bond. In particular, she underlines the growth in cancer cases expected over the next few years, which she believes risks worsening the situation.
A temporary measure, promises the government
Adrian Dix says that sending patients to the United States is a temporary measure, the time to hire the necessary staff to meet the needs in the province.
According to the government, 4,800 patients suffering mainly from breast or prostate cancer should benefit
of this program over the next two years, i.e. an average of 2,400 per year.
The Minister of Health indicates that currently, more than 82% of patients receive their radiotherapy treatment within the reference period (four weeks), and that the measure announced on Monday will make it possible to increase this proportion.
Patients who will follow their radiotherapy in the United States will have to have their passport, and they will be treated in a clinic in Bellingham, about twenty kilometers from the border, south of Vancouver.
People in British Columbia need care in the communities where they live, Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said in a statement. They need to be connected with their families and support networks.
According to the Greens, this announcement confirms that the health system is wavering
.
Adrian Dix, during the press briefing, explained that the measure is not unprecedented, noting that nearly a hundred pregnant women from British Columbia gave birth in the United States from 2006 to 2009 due to excessive demand for specialized care for high-risk pregnancies.
He also claims that a number of patients from hospitals in Victoria and Kelowna have been offered to have medical imaging exams at Bellingham between 2018 and 2020, while the establishments acquire the latest equipment.
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