Conservative cuts put primary care at risk

COURTENAY – The BC NDP will open a new Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) in Courtenay–Comox, making it easier for people to access care for illnesses and injuries close to home while easing pressure on hospital emergency departments.

“People in Courtenay–Comox deserve timely access to the care they need, close to home,” said Will Cole-Hamilton, BC NDP candidate for Courtenay–Comox. “A BC NDP government would add another Urgent and Primary Care Centre to help more people get the right care, at the right time, in their own community. The Conservatives want to cut health-care spending and put these kinds of services at risk. We’re focused on expanding access, not taking it away.”

A re-elected BC NDP government will open a second UPCC in Courtenay–Comox, building on the 48 UPCCs already opened across the province. With added capacity to serve people in the Comox Valley, the goal of the second UPCC would be to offer walk-in services – triaging patients based on urgency. This model would complement the current UPCC’s appointment-only model.

This new UPCC is part of David Eby’s plan to keep strengthening health care for people across B.C. The plan includes tripling the successful recruitment of health-care workers from the U.S., cutting surgery wait times through coordinated regional lists, and adding more MRI and CT scanners.

The BC Conservatives would put this progress at risk. In Courtenay–Comox, BC Conservative candidate Brennan Day questions whether UPCCs are "delivering value” while making a misleading cost comparison to doctors offices, which provide far less care.

“The Conservatives are asking people to trust a party that has made clear healthcare would take the brunt of funding cuts and has refused to answer for their $5 billion fiscal gap,” said Cole-Hamilton. “Given the Conservative criticism of UPCCs, they would seem to be a prime target for Lorne Doerkson’s cuts. And it certainly shows that they wouldn’t add a new one in our community.”

People deserve a health-care system that puts patients first, not one that leaves them paying out of pocket or puts essential services on the chopping block.