“It’s almost like health care employers don’t care or don’t know what to do,” he said during The Roy Green Show. “We are very concerned as health workers. What we are talking about now is the survival of our system.”
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Across the nation, five million Canadians do not have a primary health care provider, a key issue in the country, according to Silas. “We need primary health care. That’s the key because we as individuals have to take care of ourselves to make sure we don’t end up in the hospital,” he said. Story continues below ad Canada’s prime ministers will meet in Victoria, BC at the Fairmont Empress on July 11 and 12 to discuss the state of health care as part of one of the biannual meetings of the Federation Council. The Council consists of the provincial and regional premiers. “The problems Canadians have faced in accessing health care services during the pandemic have intensified the pressures on our health systems that will continue unless the federal government significantly increases its share of health care costs,” said BC Premier John Horgan on July 7. press release announcing the meeting. “Canadians need to have confidence that their health care systems will provide the services they need. There can be no further delay in having this vital conversation with the federal government.” 2:12 Steady increase in sick days among BC health care workers Steady increase in sick days among BC health care workers – June 30, 2022 For Sheila, who will attend the Victoria meeting, she plans to drive home that one province or territory will not be able to fix the system on its own. Trending Stories
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Story continues below ad “Right now we are in crisis. We will tell them that we are with you, but we will also tell them that there will not be one province or region that can fix this mess alone,” he said. “They hear it from more than nurses, more than doctors. They hear it every time they walk down the street. They know their neighbor didn’t get their hip surgery or cancer treatment is delayed. That’s how you change political opinion, when everyone is on the same page.” “We really need to work together and bring the federal government to the table. It’s nonsense that we haven’t talked to the federal government about all of this yet,” Silas added.
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Prime ministers at the gathering must prioritize recruiting and retaining health professionals in the country, and not just in the short term, according to Dr. Atul Kapur, spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. “We’ve been sounding the alarm for some time now about shortages of doctors and nurses,” he told The Canadian Press. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows admitted patients across Canada waited 38.3 hours in emergency rooms in 2019-2020, up from 29.3 hours five years earlier. The total number of visits increased to almost 1.6 million during this period, from just over 1.1 million. Story continues below ad The figures apply to 90 percent of patients, and Kapur said 10 percent waited even longer. 1:56 South Okanagan mayors work to fix health care crisis Darrell Bricker, president and CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs says health care is still the number one issue in Canada. “What people are really saying when they put health care at the top of the problems facing the country is that they’re really uncertain about the future of the system,” Bricker said on The Roy Green Show. “They feel the system is under pressure right now.” — With files from the Canadian Press © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
