Wednesday, January 16, 2019 ~ NANAIMO.
~ West Shore Voice News
Health Minister Adrian Dix confirmed today January 16 that Nanaimo is next on the list in BC for an Urgent Primary Care Centre. No specific construction or opening date was given.
Speaking at the campaign office of Sheila Malcolmson, the BC NDP candidate in the upcoming January 30 Nanaimo by-election, Dix said work is underway to provide a centre that will make it easier for people to access basic health services.
“Once established, the Urgent Primary Care Centre in Nanaimo will connect patients with ongoing primary healthcare delivered by a team of professionals, as well as provide a same-day care alternative to waiting in the emergency department,” said Dix.
“Many people visit the Nanaimo Hospital emergency department who would rather be seen by member of a primary healthcare team, including a family doctor, nurse practitioner or other healthcare professional. This centre will now provide that option,” said Dix.
Malcolmson, who has been calling for such a centre in Nanaimo, welcomed the news.
“The BC Liberals made it harder for people to find a family doctor and access basic services,” she said. “A new urgent primary care centre would give people in Nanaimo faster and more convenient access to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare services. I’ve seen the lineups, and I am happy we can bring relief.”
Malcolmson noted that Premier John Horgan made a commitment to provide Urgent Primary Care Centres in the 2017 election. In their first 18 months in power, the BC NDP government has announced five new centres in communities across the province including Surrey and Langford.
“I am really pleased that Nanaimo will be the next community to get a centre,” said Malcolmson. “Healthcare in our community suffered under the BC Liberals.”
She noted that in 2013, the BC Liberals refused to act on a report that said Nanaimo hospital had “by far the worst ICU we have seen in Canada” and was “a risk to patients as well as staff.”
“After 16 years of BC Liberal choices that hurt healthcare in Nanaimo, John Horgan’s government is turning things around,” she said. “As Nanaimo’s MLA, I will work to keep improving healthcare in our community. A new primary care centre will be one of my priorities.”
Since coming into office, the BC NDP says their government has taken action to improve healthcare in Nanaimo, including:
• Replacing the Nanaimo Hospital ICU;
• Increasing the operating hours of the Nanaimo Hospital MRI by 42 hours per week;
• Adding $1.6 million for better care at six Nanaimo seniors homes;
• Hiring 24 new paramedics and adding 3 new ambulances.
[Photo: treatment room at the new Urgent Primary Care Centre in Langford, October 2018 ~ West Shore Voice News]