Health care may be run by the government, but speakers at the 2024 Vancouver Island Economic Alliance summit argued that the private sector still has a responsibility to be part of the conversation, with health care having a direct impact on the Island's economy. 

The VIEA summit took place Oct. 23-24 at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, bringing together business leaders and elected officials.

In one of the the panels, speakers focused on exploring investments in health-care infrastructure and the positive impacts they are expected to bring, not just for patients, but also members of the private sector. These included job creation, employment retention and strengthening the local economy. 

"If you're going to come to this community, and maybe it's an older employee, and there is no cath lab. What does that mean?" asked Barney Ellis-Perry, CEO of the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, who moderated the discussion. "There are a lot of people we see in Nanoose and Oceanside who are selling to move to south Island because they can't get health care here. That affects the economy, that affects everything." 

Other speakers included Westley Davidson, chief project officer with Island Health capital projects, Donna Hais, community liaison of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and Deborah Saucier, president at Vancouver Island University.

"From a professional point of view this is a real opportunity for this area, for mid-Island to take a leadership role in ensuring that we provide health care and health-care resources as we need it," Saucier said. "It's not a great slogan for our city, or for our university, but I do like to tell people we're an hour from everywhere, and that's nice because if we're an hour from anywhere and you're suffering from ovarian cancer in Port Alberni, we're an hour, you don't have to go to Victoria if we have a cancer centre."

In June, the provincial government announced that the new cancer centre at NRGH was slated for completion in 2028. On Sept. 16, Premier David Eby promised the addition of a new hospital tower at NRGH, which health advocates have  The addition of a cardiac cath lab, which advocates , would mean someone from Comox Valley who has a complicated heart issue would go to Nanaimo.

"That's the point of this. Not everyone on the Island should have to go to Victoria or flown to Vancouver, because, again, most of the people on Vancouver Island live above the Malahat, so that excites me to hear the recent announcements from the government that they're going to invest in health care here," Saucier added.

Hais told those attending the conference that the private sector has the opportunity to seize upon hospital expansion with complementary supportive services.

"If you have a patient who is in hospital [in Vancouver], there's hotels for you to stay at so you could see your family there, there are places to eat, there are medical offices around, there's major infrastructure around that are support pieces for that hospital."

Municipalities control land use, and the City of Nanaimo, Hais said, has been effective with creating zoning around NRGH for a hospital urban node for private and public support services. 

"The zoning reflects the need to have them there, and that's one success I can say Nanaimo has done particularly well."

In addition, she encouraged the private sector to claim responsibility for being a member of the community and join the conversation.

"So get involved in your community, support your hospital foundation, go out and start giving money for equipment so you start understanding what the needs and the gaps are. Start doing things like that and start taking responsibility for being a member of the community," she said.

Following the panel, Ellis-Perry told Black Press Media there is a lack of awareness within the general business community about the direct impact health care has on the region's economic footprint.

"[People] don't know the discrepancy between north Island and south Island health care, they don't know the state of the hospital, they don't know the state of health care in our region," he said. "People have to stand up and pay attention B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·“ and I think the business community is part of that."