There has been a wave of resignations among health care workers in northern B.C., including half of the doctors in the intensive care units of the area’s biggest hospitals
. These physicians tendered their resignations in a display of frustration over how overworked and understaffed hospitals in the region are.
This has put Health Minister Adrian Dix in the spotlight and led to some tense exchanges this week in the legislature, the same legislature where his boss, Mr. Horgan, dropped an expletive in response to heckling from the Opposition benches. The Premier has been blaming the whole mess on a lack of resources, and has been pressuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cough up more money for the provinces for health care funding.
Last week, there were 16,000 health care workers off sick, with the greatest percentage in the northern and Interior parts of the province. Many of those have refused to go to work for fear of catching COVID-19. However, many are simply burnt out after two years of the pandemic. Mr. Dix says the province has added 30,000 health care workers to the system in the last five years. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon disputes that number, saying Statistics Canada figures show there were 10,084 fewer health care workers at provincial hospitals in February of this year, compared to the summer of 2017.The dispute over numbers doesn’t change the on-the-ground realities. The province has seen emergency departments forced to close because of staffing shortages. B.C.