By CURT FIRESTONE
When a family moves to Salt Spring Island or any place in Canada for that matter, they automatically place their children into the public school. There are no waiting lists. Yet that same family must start living without a primary healthcare provider.
Schools are available for every child, primary healthcare is not. There is an elected school board to make the system work. This is not the case for healthcare.
British Columbia is dealing with a shortage of family and specialized medical practitioners, nurses, nurse practitioners, healthcare staff, physical facilities and specialized technical equipment. A series of governments have failed by not expanding healthcare services at the same rate as population growth.
We did have one federal minister of health who understood that the whole healthcare system needs modernization. Jane Philpott, MD, recognized that team-based care through non-profit community health centres is the answer.
The BC Greens have a similar plan. They want every riding to have at least one non-profit community health centre. MLA candidate Rob Botterell recognizes that we have a geographical issue created by the Salish Sea. There are community-operated health centres already established on Pender, Mayne and Galiano islands. Saanich Peninsula has the Shoreline Medical Society. Rob says that it is time to bring Salt Spring Island’s community and healthcare providers together to create a community health centre.
The BC Greens also recognize that our healthcare authorities have evolved into cumbersome large bureaucracies that need streamlining. There are funds sitting there that should be re-directed to providing direct healthcare services.
What will a community health centre do for Salt Spring? It will provide team-based care with a combination of family doctors, nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals all cooperating in one location. Everyone will have equal access to a team of professionals. Our healthcare providers will no longer have to be burdened with administrative work. A local community non-profit board with administrative responsibility will govern.
One of the determinants of health is our physical environment. The Green Party’s top priority is the return of our planet to its natural environmental state by reducing climate change and protecting our future.
Both of the other political parties want to eliminate (Conservative) or reduce (NDP) the carbon tax, which is one key to winning the environmental battle. How many un-natural climate disasters can we endure?
I am voting for Rob Botterell because I believe that he and the BC Greens will work to modernize our healthcare system and work for a clean environment. It is time to fully and completely enter the 21st century with approaches that facilitate the 22nd century.