Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Last night (March 13th) 200 area residents, and members of the Conservative Party of BC, heard from Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar. Milobar, who has been traveling the province for several weeks, is looking to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.   The following is a condensed version of what he had to say:  This election as the right-of-center party -- as BC conservatives -- we cannot afford to lose. We need a win. BC needs us to win. And we need experience to do that. Not just in the leadership race, but in the actual general election. And my experience as a city councillor, my experience as a mayor, my experience as an MLA, as a small businessperson; I’m actually the only one in the race that can talk about that experience. Because make no mistake about it, the NDP will be competitive in this coming election. They are going to get 37-38 percent of the vote no matter who their leader is. We need to be cohesive. We're supposed to be a party that believe...

A new report from the Consultant Specialists of BC (cSBC) reveals a deepening specialist waitlist crisis, with more than 1.2 million British Columbians currently waiting to see a specialist, the longest delays and lowest satisfaction levels in the country. The report highlights the human impact of these delays: a Vancouver man had his lung transplant cancelled due to specialist shortages, while nearly 1,364 Interior Health patients died while on waitlists last year. "Behind every number is a frightened patient and a devastated family,” said Dr. Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and Conservative Health Critic . “People are suffering, deteriorating, and in some cases dying because they cannot access specialist care when they need it.” The cSBC warns that prolonged specialist waits are driving ER overcrowding, avoidable hospital admissions, physician burnout, and more repeat referrals, all of which further destabilize the healthcare system. “Specialist are having to triage...

A Kamloops woman’s cancer screening appointment was considered urgent by her doctors and scheduled within weeks, but it was postponed indefinitely when Interior Health ordered her gynecologist take that day’s on-call shift. Troylana Manson now waits with the mystery of whether she might have cancer amid a staffing crisis for women’s health care specialists in Kamloops. “I was happy to have that appointment in December so we could rule this out, but now it’s thrown in the air again. People in Kamloops, certainly people in positions of power, need to realize what Interior Health is doing”  ... CLICK HERE for the full story

IMAGE CREDIT:   Interior Health  A maternal health-care specialist is warning that the recent mass resignations of an entire BC obstetric department could be an example of what’s to come if things don’t change in the sector. Seven obstetrician gynecologists (OBGYNs) from Kamloop’s Royal Inland Hospital resigned over the weekend, citing safety issues from a changing workload and staffing challenges ... ... Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck is a maternal fetal medicine specialist and president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. She says the mass quitting in Kamloops is just one example of a larger issue that’s happening across Canada ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... the province is building one of four new BC Cancer facilities in Kamloops, bringing in radiation services locally for the first time. But the facility will be the only one of them constructed with chemotherapy services in another building and the only one without a PET/CT scanner — a specialized piece of equipment that identifies cancer cells in the body, allowing doctors to more accurately diagnose and manage cancer in patients ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Two Conservative MLAs have lambasted Interior Health (IH) after an announcement of gaps in maternity care in Kamloops. On Wednesday, the health authority announced that they had been informed by the Thompson Region Family Obstetrics (TRFO) that new referrals were being closed. A news release said the decision is meant to allow the physician group to dedicate available physician resources to critical 24-7 labor and delivery services at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH). Patients who don’t have a maternity care provider were told to explore other options like the Healthy from the Start phone number and First Step Early Pregnancy Clinic ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

The Thompson Region Family Obstetrics physician group in Kamloops is no longer accepting new referrals because their doctors must instead staff the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) labour and delivery ward. Yesterday, Interior Health advised expectant mothers to turn to their family doctors for maternity care, or contact the First Steps Early Pregnancy Clinic, which only provides antenatal care up to 30 weeks of pregnancy. “Forty percent of Kamloops residents don't have a family doctor,” said Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar.  “Even if a woman with no primary care provider is accepted at the First Steps Clinic, she will still be on her own after 30 weeks.” "Pregnant women require frequent referrals for ultrasounds, bloodwork, and tests. At regular prenatal checkups, women have their baby's heartbeat monitored, they have swabs done, and they discuss concerns they have,” said Dr. Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and Official Opposition Critic for Health.  “These ...

IMAGE CREDIT:   Interior Health website   Kamloops-Centre MLA and Critic for Finance Peter Milobar and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer are calling out the NDP government for leaving cardiac patients in the Thompson-Nicola region waiting decades for life-saving services — while local residents are forced to raise millions to fill the gap.   The ICCHA-WISH Fund and Kamloops residents have already raised over $2 million for Royal Inland Hospital (RIH), purchasing state-of-the-art equipment and attracting specialists. Yet critical cardiac services are delayed until 2040, forcing over 1,000 patients a year to endure hours-long transfers to Kelowna General Hospital — delays that can mean the difference between life and death. And now, with a recently departed cardiologist, Kamloops will have no cardiac care between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. “The NDP’s answer? ‘Schedule’ your heart attack at a hospital two hours away — as if medical emergencies run on their timetab...

Those with a long enough memory (you’ll likely have either grey, or no, hair) may remember that in the lead-up to the October 17 th 1991 provincial election, NDP leader Mike Harcourt promised THREE new cancer centres would be built in the province.   They would be in Kelowna, Prince George, and in Kamloops. Regarding the Kamloops Cancer Centre, a May 2013 th story in BC Political Reports notes the following timeline commitments:   ·         September 1991:  The NDP candidate in the Kamloops riding claims clinic has been delayed 15 months so the Socreds can announce its construction after the election is called. (As of the 1991 election there are two Kamloops ridings – North Thompson and South). ·         October 4: Kamloops NDP candidate Art Charbonneau says his party is committed to the cancer-clinic project   No sooner had Harcourt defeated the th...