Editor, The Times:
I get very annoyed when I see verbal diarrhea, such as what was printed in the above article. The BC Health Coalition is just one of many non-profit organizations that draw money away from the health care system.
This group is not about improving health care; it’s about getting votes. Make no mistake, this is not a direct attack on Ms. Yeung; it’s a direct attack on all lobby groups that leach funding from bureaucracies like the health system.
Until such time as the budget for the medical system is changed, the huge problem won’t go away. Currently, the budget is split almost 50-50 between front line workers and administration. We live in a computer age in which the ratio could easily be changed to 80-20.
All that has to be done is reduce the top end patronage appointments and channel those funds into our health care.
I agree with Ms. Yeung that wait times have gone down for surgeries for hip and knee replacements, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. (Oops, that’s a bad choice of words since Ms. Yeung is also a climate activist, according to Google!).
What about wait times for the likes of pain management? The procedure I receive used to have a wait time of 10 months; now it’s more than two years. Then there’s wait time for skin cancer treatment. In February, I had a biopsy on my nose and the results came back positive for cancer.
My specialist suggested I have the cancer removed at the Dermatological Surgery Centre in Vancouver. Because this is my second bout with the cancer, and because there is little meat on the nose, I’d have much better results with a procedure called Mohs Micrographic Surgery.
The referral was sent to the Centre on Feb. 25. A week later, I received an info package with a surgery date of Feb.25, 2020! That’s a year’s wait! When I called the specialist, she suggested going to Calgary for the same procedure. Two days later, I received an appointment for this September at the Calgary surgery centre, a wait of five months.
There are only four surgeons in BC that perform the Mohs surgery, three in Vancouver and one in New West. I would think that with all the hoopla of global warming and climate change, we are about to see a horrendous spike in skin cancer rates.
Unfortunately, the only solution Horgan and Weaver have to reduce this problem is to increase the carbon tax!
Jim Lamberton, The Rambling Man
Clearwater, BC
