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HOW DID WE GET HERE? An Interview with MLA Sheila Malcomson About Health Care on Central Vancouver Island
As part of our continuing series about the health care situation in the central Vancouver Island area, Life on Gabriola TV associate journalist Althea Rasendriya interviews Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo MLA and Gabriola resident, about the path taken to get us to where we are, and the way out.
Malcolmson discusses the historical underfunding of healthcare, the revelation of weaknesses in the system during the pandemic, and the challenges now faced by healthcare workers. She highlights recent improvements in BC, including a new payment system for doctors, which the government says has so far resulted in 4,000 new registrations and a 16% increase in family practitioners. But she acknowledges that many people remain on wait lists for a doctor, and that line-ups at the single walk-in health care clinic in Nanaimo remain long.
They also discuss the rise of virtual care, and whether public health care remains the best option. After the interview, Rasendriya provides an update on family doctor numbers in the Island Health region.
Key moments:
00.00:49: Effects of defunding and the pandemic.
00:03:21: Connecting people with family doctors.
00.09:14: The housing situation in Nanaimo, and its impact on recruiting doctors.
00:11:14: Recruiting on Gabriola Island, and effects of retirements in the area generally. Supporting front-line workers.
00:13:38: Virtual care.
00:16:00: Needing to travel for care. Gabriola clinic as a "game-changer."
00:19:00: Nanaimo emergency room.
00:20:24: Is public health care still the best solution?
00:24:26: Update from Althea on family doctor numbers in the Island Health region.
Life on Gabriola TV is generously sponsored by:
The Gabriola Arts Council
The Haven, Gabriola Island
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Based on Gabriola Island, one of the Gulf Islands in the Salish Sea of BC, Life on Gabriola TV provides programming for Gabriolans, by Gabriolans. We cover events and issues in our own community, including adjacent islands, and in the Salish Sea region generally.
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