BC’s Green Party Leader says she was shocked but not surprised by the province’s plan to send as many as 50 cancer patients a week to Bellingham for radiation treatment.
Leader Sonia Furstenau’s comments come as she explains BC is the poorest performing province in Canada for access to radiation therapy treatment.
She says issues with the BC Cancer Agency have been seen for over a decade.
“In 2012, a report was given to the provincial health services agency by the President of BC Cancer at the time., in which it was outlined that over the next 15 years, there would be a significant increase in the need for cancer treatment and that there would be shortages of medical staff, support staff, and machines… We are seeing exactly that play out now, unfortunately.”
With patients being sent to one of two partner clinics in Bellingham, Washington, Furstenau says it’s the worst thing for cancer patients, as they are being removed from their family, friends, and support network.
“All of these aspects of your life that contribute to your well-being and now you’re being asked to go dislocate yourself from all of that travel across an international border. There’s a lot of stress with that and with being apart from that network of support — the added stress is unimaginable.”
Furstenau explains a primary care crisis has led the province to the situation it is in now.
“We have a lack of family doctors, which means that people are getting diagnosed later than should be diagnosed with cancer because they don’t have that regular primary care. That can result in a greater need for more serious treatments like radiation, which adds to the waitlist for radiation,” she stated.
“Connecting these dots back to the whole healthcare system and recognizing that foundational piece of primary care – a family doctor, a team of healthcare professionals is a piece of this puzzle that’s leading us to the situation we are in where we’re sending people across the border to get radiation treatment.”
Part of the issue, as Furstenau suggests, is what she calls failures in the system, leadership, and in governance.
“Unfortunately that results in failure in operations and that’s the health care providers and the patients who need that care who are paying the price.”
With that, she suggests this is not an unusual scenario BC is in.
“We have a kind of a governance system that is more ready and capable to deal with an emergency right in front of them than they are looking at the horizon in 10, 15, or 20 years from now,” added Furstenau.
“We don’t have the kind of political leadership that says we need to get out in front of these crises before they become an emergency.”
Furstenau stresses people in British Columbia need healthcare in their communities.
“While it is critical people receive the treatment they need, this initiative to send people for radiation to the United States reinforces what former Premier Horgan said last summer, that the healthcare system is teetering.”
She says the BC NDP government must address the provinces “failing” healthcare system, suggesting solutions include; better pay for nurses, cracking down on two-tier healthcare and ensuring all communities have an accessible community healthcare centre.