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Health care system in peril

The health care system in this province - across this country - needs a serious shock to the system. Word comes this week that the Coast's only hospital, St. Mary's, may have problems this spring and summer with emergency room (ER) doctor shortages.

The health care system in this province - across this country - needs a serious shock to the system.

Word comes this week that the Coast's only hospital, St. Mary's, may have problems this spring and summer with emergency room (ER) doctor shortages. This was a problem that plagued the hospital last year, even forcing the hospital to shut its ER down for a short time last August.

The local hospital foundation and medical society are working together with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) on addressing the shortages, but there don't seem to be any clear answers on the horizon to fix the problems.

And the problems aren't reserved just for St. Mary's. A bed shortage is being felt throughout the province. Overcrowding in emergency rooms led to recent surgery cancellations at Surrey Memorial Hospital. Staff in Surrey even had to issue a 'code orange' emergency because of the lack of beds. At Kelowna General Hospital, their ER staff issued 'code purple' alerts in response to overcrowding. During a recent busy point in the ER, there were 41 patients and only 23 beds.

At Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster last month, fire marshals were forced to clear an area of the ER because of overcrowding.

When patients do get treated, the care is fairly good, it appears. A recent patient survey released by VCH stated that St. Mary's received a significantly higher rating than both the VCH and B.C. average. But it's getting access to that quality care that's the problem. Throughout the province, we have fewer doctors and even fewer beds, which spells trouble for our health care system.

It's mind boggling that in a province like B.C. in a country like Canada, our health care system is in such shambles. The minister of health and the provincial government lately seem to think that having a system where you have to cancel surgeries and issue warnings and alerts is just a routine part of doing business. That's a horrible way of thinking. Government at both the provincial and national levels must start taking the problems with our health care system seriously and start putting some funding in place that will give the hospitals and their staff the tools they need to provide the proper care that everyone deserves.

We can do better than this can't we?