British Columbia will receive $1.2 billion over the next three years to improve various aspects of healthcare as part of an historic agreement with the federal government.
Health Minister Adrian Dix signed the funding agreement Tuesday (Oct. 10) with his federal counterpart Mark Holland at Vancouver General Hospital. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside and federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit S. Sajjan were among a whole host of local MPs and senior medical figures who joined the ceremony.
The signed agreement is the first of 13 agreements between the federal government and provincial and territorial governments.
B次元官网网址淭he largest share of the money under this agreement will go to support nurses, particularly nurses in acute care,B次元官网网址� Dix said. ThatB次元官网网址檚 about $750 million over three years.
Another $246 million over three years will go toward mental health and addictions.
B次元官网网址淭he focus there is on things such as expanding foundry, expanding treatment services and expanding supports in the community, including harm reduction measures,B次元官网网址� he said.
Holland said Canada is facing an unrelenting and tragic overdose crisis with B.C. on its frontline. B次元官网网址淢ental health is at the centre of every solution.B次元官网网址�
Whiteside said the agreement supports the expansion of Foundry centres and other youth treatment and recovery services so more young people can get the free, confidential and timely care they need in their own communities.
Remaining funds will address waitlists, improve diagnostic and digital care and help recruit doctors for cancer care, Dix added.
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Holland said the agreement is part of the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 commitment to spend $200 billion over the next 10 years.
B次元官网网址淭his historic support includes $25 billion to provinces and territories for tailored plans that will focus on the unique needs of people in each province and territory. It will advance shared health priorities and it is the critical foundation for the transformation (of the Canadian health care system).B次元官网网址�
Holland added that the agreement confirms CanadaB次元官网网址檚 and B.C.B次元官网网址檚 willingness to transform the health care system.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a key building block of the change that will see us go from one of the best health care systems in the world to the best health care system in the world,B次元官网网址� Holland said.
Holland later though acknowledged that money alone wonB次元官网网址檛 make a difference in pointing to other issues such as recruitment.
B次元官网网址淲e are not holding this out as a panacea. The challenges that we have with respect to workforce are real and what we need is transformation of our system. We need to work collaboratively, when we are talking about our immigration system, when we are talking about those who are responsible for credential recognition to make sure thatB次元官网网址pens up our potential.
In praising B.C.B次元官网网址檚 recruitment efforts, Holland said B次元官网网址渞emarkable thingsB次元官网网址� are happening in B.C.
Dix said a net total of 38,000 health care workers have joined the provincial health care system since 2017, but repeated earlier acknowledgements that B.C. needs to do more.
Pointing to various initiatives such as the building of a new medical school, Dix also said that the province needs to make it easier for internationally trained health care professionals to work in B.C. The provincial government plans to table new legislation in the fall.
B次元官网网址淲e have to change the way we deliver care,B次元官网网址� Dix said, noting the changes in the payment system for family physicians announced earlier this year. Hundreds of thousands of people have also already benefited from changes that allow pharmacists to treat minor ailments, he added.
The three-year-agreement comes with stipulations.
It calls on B.C. to develop an innovative model of care at 83 acute care sites across B.C. so nurses can spend more time with patients; enhance access to mental health and addictions, with the number of foundry centres set to rise to 35 from 16; improve the number of First Nations with access to culturally safer, trauma-informed and culturally appropriate healing and treatment services; and up the share of British Columbians with access to their own electronic health information to 75 per cent.
wolfgang.depner@blackpress.ca
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