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Health Minister Josie Osborne’s long mandate letter

Broad-scope Health Minister's mandate has impact for every individual, family and sector of society.

josie osborne, nov 2024
Health Minister Josie Osborne addressed media on November 18, 2024 immediately after cabinet her appointment. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]
CANADA-USA NEWS & ANALYSIS

Sunday January 19, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 2 pm]

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends


Nearly three months after the 2024 BC provincial election, this past week Premier David Eby issued his mandate letters to the BC Cabinet members that he appointed on November 18.

One of the key challenges for British Columbians is finding a family doctor. Wait times to get urgent care are long. Hospitals are often understaffed. Mental health and addictions continue to plague many aspects of life in BC.

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Josie Osborne addressed media about her new role as Health Minister, Nov 18, 2024. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

These challenges are among many that face Health Minister Josie Osborne as she takes on the file that arguably directly affects British Columbians more than any other area of ministry responsibility.

Tomorrow (January 20) Osborne will hold her first media availability since receiving her mandate letter, with an announcement about expanded substance-use treatment services. Substance use is one of the 19 points in the health minister’s mandate letter.

First elected in 2020 as MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim and re-elected in 2024, Osborne has proven herself to be a strong performer for government. She is arguably now one of the top rung leaders of the BC cabinet.

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Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, at BC Hydro announcement on April 3, 2024. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

Mandate letter in detail:

In the premier’s January 16, 2025 mandate letter to Health Minister Josie Obsorne (the longest of all 23 mandate letters issued that day), Eby says that he expects Osborne to “prioritize making progress’ on 19 points including some key points of broad impact for nearly every person or family:

  • a review of Regional Health Authorities.
  • reduce the population level frequency of opioid prescriptions
  • high-quality care for people with brain injury, addiction, and mental health challenges

BC Health Minister’s Mandate Letter – Jan 16, 2025

• In order to protect key services that British Columbians rely on, work with the Minister of Finance to review all existing Ministry of Health programs and initiatives to ensure programs support the health of British Columbians while keeping costs manageable. This is important in the context of current Provincial budget constraints, our growing and aging population, and emerging technologies.

• Tackle the training, recruitment, retention, and system redesign needed to make sure our health human resources keep pace with the growing needs of people in BC and deliver better, faster care.

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• Ensure every British Columbian has access to primary care, continue connecting more and more people to family healthcare providers, and ensure that care can be delivered in person through standards established in consultation with the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Doctors of BC.

• Take necessary steps to address temporary emergency room closures.

• Improve cancer care delivery across the province to meet international benchmarks for outcomes and service delivery.

• Improve the delivery of maternity care, reproductive care, and gynecological cancer care for people across the province through targeted initiatives.

• Work with Indigenous communities and leadership to improve health outcomes for Indigenous peoples in our province.

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• Improve the delivery of care for seniors and steward public investments made in seniors’ care to improve efficiency and effectiveness given the growing population of seniors in our province.

• Reduce the cost of administration of the health care system to focus resources on the front line, including a review of Regional Health Authorities, and incorporating an active role for doctors, nurses, and Health Science professionals in designing and implementing healthcare solutions.

• Require professional colleges to recognize the credentials of Canadian healthcare workers immediately on confirmation of their good standing in another province or territory, and to recognize the credentials of international healthcare workers from foreign jurisdictions with similar or equivalent training programs within six weeks.

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• Continue working collaboratively with stakeholders on initiatives to strengthen nurse-to-patient ratios.

• Support the work of the Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs and Concurrent Disorders in delivering high-quality care for people struggling with acquired brain injury, addiction, and mental health challenges – and work with partners across government to implement solutions.

• Bring together addiction health professionals and epidemiologists to expand peer-reviewed research to evaluate interventions for people struggling with addiction, and promptly implement best practices based on findings.

• Continue our work to build and deliver a seamless system of care for people seeking mental health and addiction services in the province on both an inpatient and outpatient basis, including services responsive to the unique needs of Indigenous peoples.

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• Reduce the risk of diversion of prescribed opioids by taking action in these areas and any others identified: first, by identifying and implementing additional safeguards to prevent diversion of opioids prescribed for opioid dependence treatment; and second, by working with all healthcare providers to find ways to reduce the population level frequency of opioid prescriptions generally.

• Review prescribing safety initiatives for psychoactive medications in order to enhance patient and public safety and reduce healthcare costs.

• Continue to expand access to nasal naloxone to respond to overdoses.

• Work with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, and with Indigenous peoples, key stakeholders and people with lived experience, to realign and improve services for children and youth with support and mental health needs.

• Work with the Cabinet Committee on Community Safety to ensure that initiatives identified by the committee are prioritized and delivered by your ministry as required.

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