Fraser Health’s board of directors heard directly from the frontline about the current crisis in health care June 19.
While more people are being seen at the emergency department at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre, the patients are being serviced on the backs of nurses, “who are going home crying, who are mentally, physically, emotionally struggling. You’re working nurses to the bone,” said a nurse who couldn’t be identified.
And while billions have been promised by the B.C. government to build new hospitals, who’s going to staff them? the nurse asked.
“And we are drowning.”
Fraser Health’s board of directors has regular public meetings with the latest taking place in Abbotsford.
After brief presentations, board members were peppered with questions from the public, health professionals and nurses.
When asked by the Optimist about the possibility of an Urgent Primary Care Centre for Delta Hospital, Natalie McCarthy, vice-president, regional care integration said, “We do have more Urgent and Primary Care Centres coming in the region and those areas that do not currently have urgent primary care are obviously being considered for those services,” she said.
McCarthy added UPCCs are starting to expand their hours and that one of the challenges is while more UPCCs are opening, the population is growing.
According to B.C. Stats, B.C.’s population grew by 28,743 in the last three months of 2023.
Board chair Jim Sinclair said Fraser Health has no plans to deal with the population growth with the federal government as a health authority.
“Our job is to make sure that the people who do come here find a place for health care, and that’s a challenge we have for sure,” said Sinclair.
