Health care

Why American doctors are calling for Canadian-style medicare

Jun 3, 2016
In a dramatic show of physician support for deep health care reform in the U.S., more than 2,200 physician leaders have signed a “Physician’s Proposal” calling for sweeping change. The proposal, published May 5 2016 in the American Journal of Public Health, calls for the creation of a publicly financed, single-payer, national health program to… View Article

Time to rethink BC’s surgical waitlist strategy

Apr 26, 2016
By Andrew Longhurst, Marcy Cohen and Dr. Margaret McGregor Have you had to wait months for surgical consultation, let alone the surgery itself? If so, you’re not alone. British Columbians are waiting an unacceptable amount of time to receive the care they need. Since 2010, surgical wait times have increased significantly for key procedures, including… View Article

Austerity comes to BC’s health care system

Oct 29, 2015
For many years, BC’s health care system escaped the austerity imposed on other parts of the public sector. No longer. While total dollars allocated to health care are still increasing somewhat, those increases are not sufficient to keep up with cost drivers in the system, leading to a real reduction in health care services. This needs… View Article

11 things you need to know about BC Budget 2015

Feb 17, 2015
1. Budget 2015 ends the claw-back on child support payments for single parents on welfare. This is estimated to put $13 million in the hands of some of the poorest British Columbians. It’s a good step forward, but it is very very small. $13 million is three hundredths of one percent of the provincial budget…. View Article

Ok, Let’s Talk.

Jan 29, 2015
Yesterday was Bell Let’s Talk Day 2015.  You might have heard about it.  According to Bell, a record 122,150,772 Bell Let’s Talk tweets, texts, calls, and shares on January 28, 2015 translated into a new donation of $6,107,538 to mental health initiatives. Let’s Talk is a multi-year campaign focused on four “action pillars” related to… View Article

The BC Human Rights Commission and Mental Health

Dec 10, 2014
In BC the human rights of people experiencing mental illness are routinely violated through the use of Section 28 under the BC Mental Health Act which is implemented when a person is thought to be a danger to themselves or others. A recent Globe and Mail article indicated that these apprehensions in BC (frequently initiated… View Article