Whereas the matters of sustained, accessible health services reflective of the needs of rural and remote communities have been raised through numerous resolutions over the past thirty years and where the Provincial responses highlight unsuccessful and inadequate Provincial Programs; And whereas existing services in rural and remote communities continue to decline, while communities remain removed from the planning and administration of health services in their areas; And whereas regionalization of health service delivery is in an ongoing pursuit of both the Regional Health Authorities and the Province of BC moving the planning and delivery of services further away from rural and remote communities: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of BC acknowledge that the challenges related to rural and remote health services persist and for many have continued to deteriorate over the past thirty years; And be it further resolved that the Province of BC immediately recognize the highest priority of keeping residents in their communities with equitable access to health services and with adequate funding to support that model; And be it further resolved that when medical travel is absolutely necessary for services not available at home, the Province of BC provide rural and remote residents with financial relief.
Ministry of Health The Ministry is working with health authorities and other stakeholders to make capital investments in the interior and northern regions of the province, especially in communities that have been waiting for years for certain services. The capital investments demonstrate unprecedented support for healthcare in the North by Premier John Horgan. These investments will attract new healthcare professionals, businesses, and allow folks to stay in their communities longer. Capital announcements in rural areas include: Fort St. James: Stuart Lake Hospital business plan approval January 2020; Williams Lake: Cariboo Memorial Hospital July 2019; Quesnel: G.R. Baker ED and ICU March 2019; Trail: Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital pharmacy and ambulatory care February 2019 Under the Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging Strategy, the Ministry is working closely with all health authorities to address access and wait times across BC. Interior Health and Northern Health are an integral part of this provincial strategy. Through this strategy, system improvements are also being made to create more surgical access and diagnostic imaging throughout the province. BC Cancer operates six regional cancer centres across the province. Regional centres are responsible for providing assessment and diagnostic services, treatment and supportive care. The six regional centres are in: Vancouver, Abbotsford, Surrey, Kelowna, Prince George and Victoria. In addition: - A new cancer treatment centre in Burnaby is expected to open in 2027 as part of the Burnaby Hospital re-development project. Increasing the number of regional cancer centres in the Lower Mainland will help increase access to cancer care services and reduce the impact and cost of travel for patients and their families. - BC Cancer also works in partnership with communities to provide a network of chemotherapy clinics enabling care closer to home, reducing the need for travel and making treatment more affordable. The Ministry is working with health authorities, local divisions of family practice and other key partners to implement primary care networks province wide, including in rural and remote communities. This will mean better access to day-to-day health-care services. We are implementing creative solutions like virtual care to meet British Columbians health-care needs in rural and remote communities. Virtual care connects patients with health-care providers, reducing the need for patients to spend time and money travelling. Examples include: - A tele-pediatric intensive care unit allows specialists at BC Childrens Hospital to assess children in nine British Columbia communities through real-time, two-way videoconferencing; - BC Womens Hospitals Complex Chronic Diseases Program and BC Cancer-Victoria both offer patients the opportunity to attend some appointments virtually using Skype; and - A pilot project in Lillooet allows patients to attend their surgery consultation appointment virtually, reducing their need to travel. There are 476 nurse practitioners practising in British Columbia, including in Burns Lake, Lillooet, Fort St. John, Bella Bella and Sayward. As of March 31, 2019, the Ministry has funded approximately 284.5 million to the health authorities for nurse practitioner positions. The Community Paramedicine Initiative has introduced community paramedics in 99 rural British Columbia communities to improve patient care, help bridge health service delivery gaps and stabilize paramedic staffing levels. To improve staffing stability in rural and remote communities, there is a guarantee of four hours pay, even if paramedics dont get a call-out during their shift. The Ministry understands the need to balance patient and family preference with patient safety. Highly-specialized medical services require specialized equipment and staff who need a minimum number of cases to maintain competency. Not every community has the population required to support the safe delivery of such services; therefore, travel is sometimes required. In early 2018, the Rural Patient Transport and Transfer Working Group was established. Its one-year work plan resulted in improvements to communications, data sharing, and policy and program issues related to patient transport and transfers. For example, BC Emergency Health Services developed the Provincial Patient Transfer Services Dashboard, which allows rural health-care providers see the estimated arrival status and key characteristics of a patient and their transport in real time. The Ministry is continuing to work on health-care access for people in rural and remote communities in the province, which will also focus on rural transport. Financial assistance: The Ministry provides residents who must travel for specialist medical care not available in their home community with assistance through the Travel Assistance program and Health Connections. The Travel Assistance program offers discounted fares for ferry, rail and air travel with our travel partners. In 201718, the ministry provided 14 million in funding for the program and issued 133,247 confirmations for travel to 40,038 residents. Health Connections is a health authority-based regional travel assistance program that offers subsidized transportation options for patients for necessary, non-emergency medical services.