While the BC NDP boasts about the results of its efforts to recruit healthcare workers from the United States, the BC Conservative health critic is not impressed.
North Island MLA Dr. Anna Kindy says the recruitment of more than 400 healthcare professionals from the US is nothing more than a band-aid solution for a system in crisis.
She says the issues British Columbia is facing in this department are with retention, not just recruitment.
“Recruiting from the US may make for a headline, but it does nothing to fix the structural failures in our system,” she said in a statement released by the party on Wednesday.
“They are not bringing in enough providers, and they are not increasing patient attachment. British Columbians still can’t find a family doctor.”
Kindy claims the NDP government is driving healthcare workers out of the province and the Health Professions and Occupations Act will make matters worse when it comes into effect April 1.
“Doctors are already warning they may retire early or leave rather than work under this system,” her statement noted.
Kindy also sees holes in BC’s efforts to fast-track US-trained doctors without taking meaningful steps to expand training capacity within the province.
“Relying on foreign recruitment is not a long-term plan,” she explains, adding that one-third of BC’s doctors are already internationally-trained.
“Producing just 50 additional doctors a year is nowhere near enough to meet demand, and we have thousands of excellent domestic applicants rejected every year.”
Kindy, a physician and addiction specialist with a 35-year career in medicine, says the issues plaguing BC’s healthcare sector are “a system failure” and is calling for “serious action on training, retention and transparency.”
