During the provincial election earlier this year, Premier Gordon Campbell promised there would be no cuts to health care despite BC’s worsening financial situation.
Just two months later, that promise began to unravel.
On July 15, new Health Minister Kevin Falcon instructed BC’s health authorities to find $360 million in savings. Since then, each new day seems to bring news of cuts to programs and services.
Many cuts are yet to be announced, but already it’s clear that the impact on patients is severe. Seniors, the mentally ill and those with addictions issues are hardest hit, but with dramatic MRI reductions and some 10,000 elective surgeries cancelled, everyone will feel the impact.
Beyond the immediate impact on the lives of the sick and vulnerable, these cuts appear to sacrifice long-term cost control in favour of temporary, short-term gains, undermining government claims to fiscal responsibility. Delaying diagnostic services leaves people sicker and more costly to treat, while cutting addictions treatment increases costs to the courts system and contributes to greater addictions-related illness.
HSA is speaking out because we’re the health professionals who care for patients every day, and we take our commitment to protect health care seriously.
Cuts made to date:
Mental health and addictions
cut funding for Atlas Youth Supported Recovery in Terrace, the only residential recovery centre for youth in BC’s Northwest
cut funding for the award-winning West Coast Alternatives Society, where drug and alcohol programs for adults, youths and children help 600 residents a year
cut social work budget in Fraser Health region hospitals, resulting in loss of 14 positions
closing adolescent psychiatric unit at Abbotsford Hospital
cut funding for 11 residential care beds at Bear Creek Lodge and 11 residential care beds at Newton Regency in Surrey
eliminating the only recreation therapist in an eating disorders clinic
cut funding for Burnaby Family Life, a program for adult survivors of sexual abuse
cut mental health and addictions services at Capital Mental Health Association in the Victoria area
cut half the staff hours at Gaumont Resident in Kamloops, specializing in treating mental health and addictions
closed Waddell’s Haven Guest Home in Mission, a residential mental health facility also providing addictions services
closed the only withdrawal management program in the Fraser Valley, at Chilliwack General Hospital
eliminated psychology services for adult rehabilitation at Royal Inland Hospital
elimination of music therapy, other staff cuts including dietitian, social worker, counselor, recreation therapist at Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions
closed outpatient psychiatry programs at UBC Hospital: anxiety disorder clinic and integrated personality program
closing the psychiatric ward – Eric Martin Pavilion – in Victoria
Vancouver Coastal Health announced that six counsellors and clinicians at Vancouver Community Mental Health will lose their jobs. Four others will be transferred. The counsellors provide rehabilitation services as well as counselling and education for geriatric clients, children and youth
Seniors' and residential care
cut funding for North Shore Keep Well Society, which helps keep 500 seniors healthy, and Seniors’ One Stop, which gets 5000 calls yearly
closed a 36-bed geriatric assessment and rehabilitation unit at Victoria General Hospital
closed geriatric day hospital in Vancouver
closed 25-bed convalescent care unit and an 8-bed hospice at Queen’s Park Care Centre in New Westminster
closed 42 residential care beds at Peace Arch Hospital
closed Pouce Coupe Care Home
closing Oak Bay Lodge and Mount Tolmie Hospital in the Victoria area
closure of hospital care program at Poplar Ridge residential care, as well
as layoffs of the recreation therapist and social worker
Services for children and infants with special needs
cut funding to help young children access Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention autism program at Queen Alexandra Centre for Children
eliminated key staff for Infant Development Program, Aboriginal Development Program and Supported Child Development Program, leaving parents with special needs kids with less support
closure of Melissa Park Lodge in Port Coquitlam, a mental health residential facility and child development centre specializing in mental health and addictions services for children and youth
cut autism intervention services in the Okanagan
threatened privatization of unique outpatient pharmacy at Children's Hospital to for-profit corporation
Surgeries, diagnostic and rehabilitation services
cancelled 328 knee and hip operations for people living in the Interior
cut 760 elective surgeries and 3000 MRIs on Vancouver Island
cut almost 10,000 MRIs -- and possibly cutting 6000 surgeries and closing 25% of operating rooms -- in the Vancouver health region
cancelled 35% of elective surgeries in the Fraser Health Authority during the Olympic games, adding up to an estimated 2000 surgeries; cancelled 450 surgeries in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority during the same period, as well as implementing extended closures until March 2010, cancelling another 5800 cases
eliminated speech language pathology services in Golden
at Kelowna General Hospital, closed six rehab beds for joint surgeries; closed five hospice beds; closed five reactivation beds.
concerns about inadequate sterilization of surgery equipment caused cancellation of surgeries at Royal Inland Hospital
cut services for multiple sclerosis patients at UBC
announced 10% budget cut to diagnostic imaging (x-rays, ultrasound, MRI, CT scans etc) through a consolidation of services across the Lower Mainland
Fraser Health Authority anticipating 14% cut in elective surgery budget; eliminating up to seven sterilization technicians who ensure surgical instruments are clean
announced closure of 18 acute care beds at St. Joseph's Hospital in Comox,
equivalent to 22% of the medical/surgical beds in the Comox Valley; resulting
layoffs of 30-35 registered nurses, 10 licensed practical nurses, clinical
nurse leaders, and support staff. A part-time physiotherapist is leaving and
will not be replaced.
closure of the lab during weekend night shifts at Saanich Peninsual Hospital
Royal Columbian Hospital has laid off an MRI technologist due to budget
cuts, despite an 18-month waiting list for MRI scans at the hospital
announced closure of the newly installed operating room at Lady Minto Hospital
on Saltspring Island
Community outreach and support
cut $2 million from contracts with community agencies and non-profit societies delivering health services in the Victoria area
cut crisis line services in the North Island
closed the Chimo Achievement Centre, a therapeutic day program for adults with disabilities in Coquitlam and the TriCities area, promoting independence, preventing deterioration, and enhancing quality of life
cuts to support services for people living with HIV/AIDS in both Vancouver and the Okanagan, with more severe cuts announced for the spring
closure of a specialized food bank for people living with HIV/AIDS, stocked with nutritionally optimized items to support the dietary needs of immune compromised clients
spiritual care eliminated across Fraser Health Authority
reduced funding and introduced new charges for Meals on Wheels in Nanaimo
cut employment and vocational support services for people with mental disabilities and other barriers to employment
cut 50% of public health dietitians
cut speech language pathology services at Deaf Children’s Society of BC
eliminated the Healthy Choices in Pregnancy program, designed to reduce the number of babies born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Community Living BC cuts to funding and services for developmentally challenged
adults, resulting in group home closures, staff and programs cut
Help us track the cuts
If you know of cuts missing from this list, please e-mail your information to webmaster@hsabc.org.
