Conservatives’ $5 billion fiscal gap puts health-care investments at risk

VANCOUVER -A re-elected BC NDP government will open a new Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) in South Vancouver, making it easier for people to get timely medical care.

“Whether you are a working parent with kids in child care or school, a senior living at home, or anything in between, you need health care close by,” said Sunita Dhir, BC NDP candidate for Vancouver-Langara. “The BC NDP has been strengthening our health care system and has new UPCCs on the way - while the Conservatives have left a $5 billion gap that will mean cuts to essential health care.”

There are already 48 UPCCs open across the province, including five in Vancouver, offering team-based care from doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and allied health professionals. More than five million visits have been provided to British Columbians since the first UPCC opened in 2018. People can visit a UPCC for minor injuries, infections, sprains, cuts and other common illnesses that need timely medical attention but do not require an emergency department visit.

The Conservative plan for B.C. shows an unexplained $5 billion fiscal gap, which raises questions about how they would pay for their promises. They have said that healthcare would “take the brunt” of their budget cuts, which would put services that people count on at risk. They would cancel the BC NDP’s US recruitment efforts, which have already brought 800 new healthcare professionals to the province.

This new UPCC is part of the BC NDP’s plan to continue building a stronger healthcare system. The plan includes tripling the successful US recruitment program, cutting surgery wait times with coordinated regional lists, adding more MRIs and CT scanners across the province, and training more doctors in B.C. at the new SFU medical school.

The BC NDP will defend public healthcare and ask the top four percent of earners in the province to pay a little bit more in order to strengthen care for everyone, while the Conservatives would give tax breaks to their wealthy friends, and open the door to privatized care that lets the rich skip the line.