Healthcare

Pharmacists in B.C. will be able to prescribe certain medications beginning in spring 2023, under the province’s new Health Human Resources Strategy. (Credit: Unsplash)

B.C.’s new 5-year health-care strategy promises to breakdown barriers, expand powers

Pharmacist prescribing, reduced hurdles for international grads, more medical seats among promises

Pharmacists in B.C. will be able to prescribe certain medications beginning in spring 2023, under the province’s new Health Human Resources Strategy. (Credit: Unsplash)
Adrian Dix, B.C. Minister of Health. (Union of B.C. Municipalities photo)

PODCAST: UBCM hosts ‘reimagining health care in B.C.’ session

Today in B.C.: Panel offers transformative solutions to province’s health care problems

Adrian Dix, B.C. Minister of Health. (Union of B.C. Municipalities photo)
Family confirmed that Sheri Onstein’s medevac plane was landing just before noon on Friday. (Submitted photo)

B.C. senior in serious condition finally flown out for treatment

Medevac delayed after post surgery infection

Family confirmed that Sheri Onstein’s medevac plane was landing just before noon on Friday. (Submitted photo)
Rebecca Onstein with her mom at the Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace on Sept. 22. (Submitted photo)

‘No place will take her’: No help for B.C. senior in “life or limb” condition

“If they don’t get my mom out she’ll lose her leg or she will die. And that’s not fair,” says daughter

Rebecca Onstein with her mom at the Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace on Sept. 22. (Submitted photo)
B.C. health minister Adrian Dix speaks on the healthcare crisis at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler Sept. 13. (Credit: Union of B.C. Municipalities)

Dix offers words but no prescription as B.C. municipalities demand healthcare solutions

Mayors, councillors gathered in Whistler for Union of B.C. Municipalities convention

B.C. health minister Adrian Dix speaks on the healthcare crisis at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler Sept. 13. (Credit: Union of B.C. Municipalities)
Nurses tend to a COVID-19 patient in the Intensive Care Unit at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Nearly two and a half years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, what started as a challenge related to high infection rates overloading hospitals has evolved into an acute labour challenge.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Health-care labour shortage a long time coming, requires shift to team-based care

Statistics Canada says 1 million jobs sit empty nationwide

Nurses tend to a COVID-19 patient in the Intensive Care Unit at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Nearly two and a half years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, what started as a challenge related to high infection rates overloading hospitals has evolved into an acute labour challenge.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
New germ disinfection pods allow Fraser Health hospitals to disinfect equipment with UV light. (Fraser Health photo)

Robots using UV light to kill viruses and bacteria in Fraser Valley hospitals

Robots can disinfect rooms in as fast as 20 minutes and have done nearly 62,000 rooms in 21 months

  • Aug 29, 2022
New germ disinfection pods allow Fraser Health hospitals to disinfect equipment with UV light. (Fraser Health photo)
Aaron Banfield poses in front of the non-denominational stained glass window in the soon-to-be sacred space. The space will support connectedness and mindfulness among patients at the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. Photo: Submitted

Cancer patient plans sacred space in Kootenay hospital

The space will allow patients to focus on emotional wellness and find support from their peers.

Aaron Banfield poses in front of the non-denominational stained glass window in the soon-to-be sacred space. The space will support connectedness and mindfulness among patients at the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. Photo: Submitted
A second Ashcroft resident in severe medical distress living within half-a-block of the ambulance station has had to wait nearly 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, and has not survived. (Photo credit: Ashcroft <em>Journal</em> file photo)

B.C. man dies within sight of ambulance station with no paramedics available

Second time in less than a month no ambulance available in Ashcroft for person in medical distress

A second Ashcroft resident in severe medical distress living within half-a-block of the ambulance station has had to wait nearly 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, and has not survived. (Photo credit: Ashcroft <em>Journal</em> file photo)
Protesters gather outside the Ministry of Health Wednesday (Aug. 10) afternoon, calling on the provincial government to address the family doctor shortage. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Demonstrators in Victoria call for province to address B.C.’s family doctor shortage

People with and without family physicians converge on Health Ministry office

Protesters gather outside the Ministry of Health Wednesday (Aug. 10) afternoon, calling on the provincial government to address the family doctor shortage. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
From left to right, U2 singer Bono, Philanthropist and Co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron congratulate each other on stage during the Global Fund to Fight AIDS event at the Lyon’s congress hall, central France, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Laurent Cipriani

Advocates say Canada should commit $1.2 billion to fight against AIDS, TB and malaria

Investment, with other countries’ help, could save 20 million lives over next few years: advocates

From left to right, U2 singer Bono, Philanthropist and Co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron congratulate each other on stage during the Global Fund to Fight AIDS event at the Lyon’s congress hall, central France, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Laurent Cipriani
Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)

Campaign aims to get unvaxxed health care workers back in B.C. hospitals

‘Hire Back our Heroes’ campaigners says an entire career should not be tainted by one decision

Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)
Positive, left, and negative COVID-19 antigen rapid tests are picture in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. As research suggests that COVID-19 has infected roughly half of the Canadian population, the emergence of an even more contagious version of the virus is raising concerns that some people may be in for another round.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Already had COVID-19? Here’s what we know about reinfections

About half of Canadians have had COVID-19 so far, research suggests

Positive, left, and negative COVID-19 antigen rapid tests are picture in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. As research suggests that COVID-19 has infected roughly half of the Canadian population, the emergence of an even more contagious version of the virus is raising concerns that some people may be in for another round.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Liberal MP Hedy Fry speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on June 15, 2017. Fry introduced a private bill in late June, Bill C-295, that would amend Section 215 of the Criminal Code to specifically criminalize owners and managers of long-term care homes for failing to provide the “necessaries of life” to vulnerable adults. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa exploring criminal reform as Liberal MP tables bill on long-term care neglect

Bill C-295 looks to criminalize care home owners who fail to provide residents with necessities

Liberal MP Hedy Fry speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on June 15, 2017. Fry introduced a private bill in late June, Bill C-295, that would amend Section 215 of the Criminal Code to specifically criminalize owners and managers of long-term care homes for failing to provide the “necessaries of life” to vulnerable adults. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaking at the May 13, 2022 opening of the new Primary Care Centre in Chilliwack. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

Brand new B.C. primary care centre can’t find doctors to staff it

The clinic opened in May, but the province and Fraser Health can’t find people to work there

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaking at the May 13, 2022 opening of the new Primary Care Centre in Chilliwack. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
Signs pinned up by Moms Stop the Harm members outside Victoria’s Fairmont Empress hotel, where Canada’s premiers were meeting on July 12. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

PHOTOS: Overdoses, healthcare crises spur Victoria protests at premiers’ meeting

Groups gathered outside the Fairmont Empress in side-by-side calls for action

Signs pinned up by Moms Stop the Harm members outside Victoria’s Fairmont Empress hotel, where Canada’s premiers were meeting on July 12. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
B.C. Premier John Horgan pauses after announcing he will not run in the next provincial election during a news conference in Vancouver, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. A group representing emergency room doctors across the country has a message for Canada’s premiers: come up with a co-ordinated plan to prevent their workplaces from being closed due to staffing shortages that are creating an unprecedented crisis in health care. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Ottawa’s share of health-care funding to be top concern at premiers’ meeting in B.C.

Premiers calling for feds to increase their share of spending from 22 to 35 per cent

B.C. Premier John Horgan pauses after announcing he will not run in the next provincial election during a news conference in Vancouver, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. A group representing emergency room doctors across the country has a message for Canada’s premiers: come up with a co-ordinated plan to prevent their workplaces from being closed due to staffing shortages that are creating an unprecedented crisis in health care. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A doctor examines a patient with a stethoscope in her doctor’s office. In B.C., some family doctors are calling for a switch from the current payment model that compensates them per patient, to one that compensates them regardless of the time they spend with each person. CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Thomas Kienzle

B.C. family doctors say time-based payment model one way to create less stress, better care

Current fee-for-service model pays doctors per patient regardless of how long they spend with them

A doctor examines a patient with a stethoscope in her doctor’s office. In B.C., some family doctors are calling for a switch from the current payment model that compensates them per patient, to one that compensates them regardless of the time they spend with each person. CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Thomas Kienzle
A nurse is silhouetted behind a glass panel as she tends to a patient at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Salmon Arm nurse suspended for mistreating patients who wouldn’t sleep

Feizal Halim will no longer be allowed to be the only nurse on duty

A nurse is silhouetted behind a glass panel as she tends to a patient at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Dozens hold signs and show support at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

B.C. reconsidering signing incentives for new family doctors following push back

Resident doctors say offer didn’t come close to addressing real problems

Dozens hold signs and show support at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)