A resolution calling for immediate government action to prevent the growth of commercial medical clinics is on the agenda at next week's Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Vancouver.
Victoria city councillor Philippe Lucas, said “Little matters more to individuals than good health, and the people of B.C. have been clear in poll after poll that access to an equitable and efficient public health-care system is a fundamental value to the people of this province, and to all Canadians.”
The resolution, sponsored by the City of Victoria, calls on the province to take immediate measures to protect public health care by establishing a moratorium on the expansion and funding of private, for-profit surgical and diagnostic clinics and instead promote publicly funded and administered outpatient facilities.
Municipalities around the province have heard from hundreds of citizens who have sent email messages asking their local mayors and councils to support the resolution through an online campaign co-ordinated by the BC Health Coalition (BCHC).
BCHC co-chair, Rachel Tutte, said “ Health Minister [Michael] de Jong must take a leadership role in protecting British Columbians from private investors and insurance companies who are charging illegal user fees and billing patients for health services already covered by Medicare.”
The resolution comes at the same time as the Medical Services Commission is completing an audit of the for-profit Cambie Surgery Centre, the largest commercial clinic in B.C. and leader of a legal attack on B.C.'s Medicare laws that protect patients from being charged user fees for publicly insured, medically necessary health care.
Jennifer Harrison
Twitter: JHarrisonBIV