Health Minister Adrian Dix drew hundreds of attendees to the annual conference of the Association of BC Municipalities on Tuesday to hear him discuss health care solutions, but they were disappointed that he only repeated the COVID-19 recovery measures and the big talking points of a future focused on group – based medicine. About 20 mayors, councilors and other representatives lined up to ask him questions at the end of the meeting, but were disappointed and frustrated that he only heard a handful of them. Ahead of his speech, CTV News spoke with three members of a fledgling coalition of small-town mayors, who were blunt in their description of a provincial government moving at a glacial pace to address critical staffing shortages that are already costing lives. “The time for planning and consultation and exhibitions and meetings is over,” Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden said. “I’ve been sitting in health care planning meetings for the four years I’ve been mayor … talk minus action equals zero.” Clearwater’s mayor, who noted that his community’s emergency department has faced 60 overnight shutdowns so far this year, is equally tired of the inaction. “The most commonly used emoji is the eye emoji, and it’s totally for that reason,” said Merlin Blackwell, describing a dysfunctional healthcare system where government agencies don’t communicate with each other. “Adrian Dix and the Department of Health are an organization from top to bottom.” Port McNeill’s mayor pointed out that even communities not currently experiencing long waits for ambulances and hospital closures should expect so in the future. “It’s going to take a big check, but just writing a check to write, it’s not going to help the problem,” Gaby Wickstrom said. “If you’re going to throw money at it, I want to see a plan and how you feel those dollars (will) help.”
MAYORS ADDRESS A PROVINCIAL ISSUE
With the ambulance service the subject of several resolutions at the UBCM conference, the association representing BC’s paramedics and ambulance dispatchers has been inundated with comments from concerned community leaders. “Even though it’s not in their jurisdiction, it affects their residents and their constituents,” noted Troy Clifford of the provincial ambulance service. He also pointed out that increasing paramedic positions, up to 40% of which are understaffed due to illness each day, will not solve the problem because emergency department diversions are also affecting them. “It puts extra travel time in for these ambulances to be out of their communities for longer periods of time, putting communities at risk,” Clifford said.
ANSWERED THE MINISTER
After the event, the Minister of Health addressed the journalists, insisting that his goal in speaking at the panel was to have a dialogue. “It certainly wasn’t my intention today to come here and make this the backdrop for my announcements — it was to listen to people, to engage in conversations (around) what we’re doing to solve these problems,” Dix said. , insisting that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes. When CTV News suggested he missed an opportunity to show civic leaders he was addressing their concerns with tangible evidence of it, he said the government’s period of mourning for the Queen played a role. “In the case of the ambulances in particular, we probably would have done it in advance or around the time of the conference, but for the very sad death of the Queen,” he said. “We’re going to make some moves in an ambulance soon you’ll see.”
