New UPCC to be opened in North Vancouver-Seymour

NORTH VANCOUVER - A re-elected BC government will add a new Urgent and Primary Care Centre in North Vancouver-Seymour. This announcement builds on the 48 UPCCs currently open across the province, including one in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood.

“Families and seniors deserve access to timely care close to home,” said Susie Chant, BC NDP candidate for North Vancouver-Seymour. “The BC NDP has a track record of improving access to health care - while the Conservatives are planning big cuts to the services we count on.”

Since the province’s first UPCC opened in 2018, more than five million visits have been provided to British Columbians. These centres offer team-based care from doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and allied health professionals. UPCCs offer care for minor injuries, infections, sprains, cuts and other common illnesses that need timely medical attention but do not require an emergency department visit.

This new UPCC is part of the BC NDP plan to continue strengthening our 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.

While the BC NDP will ask the top four percent of income earners to pay a little bit more in order to strengthen healthcare for everyone, the Conservatives would give tax breaks to their wealthy friends, and open the door to privatised care that lets the rich skip the line. Their plan shows a $5 billion fiscal gap, raising serious questions about how they would pay for their promises.

The Conservatives have said health care would “take the brunt” of their budget cuts, which would put the primary care services that people count on at serious risk. Furthermore, they have said they would cancel U.S. health-care worker recruitment efforts, which have already attracted 800 new professionals to BC.

The BC NDP is the clear choice for improved health care in our province.