Ministry of Health

A sign posted at Cariboo Memorial Hospital on Monday, Oct. 2, indicated the emergency room was closed. (Photo submitted)

Controversial ER closure sign in Williams Lake rooted in nursing shortage: Union

Latest Statistics Canada data shows B.C. has 5,850 nursing vacancies

 

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry looks on as Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during a press conference at provincial legislature in Victoria, Aug. 23, 2021. Dix and Henry are confirming the province’s first case of a new COVID-19 variant in the province as of Aug. 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. confirms 1st case of new COVID variant

Province says a person in Fraser Health has been infected with the BA.2.86 variant of Omicron

 

Diabetes drug Ozempic is shown at a pharmacy in Toronto on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The British Columbia government says there’s been a 99 per cent drop in the number of online Ozempic prescriptions filled by Americans from pharmacies in that province since it introduced regulations to protect the local supply for diabetes patients. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O’Connal

99% drop in Ozempic shipments to U.S. residents after B.C. introduces restrictions

Health Ministry said 30,700 prescriptions for the medication were mailed to the United States from Jan. 1 to April 19

 

B.C’s Health Minister Adrian Dix, right, and Fraser Health CEO Dr. Victoria Lee at a health care announcement at Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (Photo: Anna Burns)

Dix plans summer tour as B.C. hospitals, health care facing ‘crises’

Health minister says challenges different in each region, but broad issue of healthcare is a B.C.-wide problem

B.C’s Health Minister Adrian Dix, right, and Fraser Health CEO Dr. Victoria Lee at a health care announcement at Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (Photo: Anna Burns)
A person holds up an intrauterine device, IUD, outside of the B.C. legislature. B.C. made several types of contraception free to residents with Medical Services Plans April 1, and healthcare workers are seeing an increase in requests for IUDs or information about them. (AccessBC)

Healthcare workers see rise in IUD interest 2 months into B.C. making contraception free

Waits for IUD insertion double since April 1; still calls for better access in rural B.C.

A person holds up an intrauterine device, IUD, outside of the B.C. legislature. B.C. made several types of contraception free to residents with Medical Services Plans April 1, and healthcare workers are seeing an increase in requests for IUDs or information about them. (AccessBC)
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses while responding to questions during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Dix announced on Friday $4.5 million in new funding for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. giving $4.5 million to upgrade children’s hospice facility

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the funding will go toward structural repairs

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses while responding to questions during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Dix announced on Friday $4.5 million in new funding for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Hundreds of nurses in Vancouver for a B.C. Nurses Union conference marched along the streets of Vancouver Wednesday (May 31, 2023) calling for safer staffing levels. (Lauren Collins)

PHOTOS: Protest highlights B.C.’s ‘dire’ nurse staffing shortage

Hundreds of nurses took to the streets of Vancouver urging that ‘safe staffing saves lives’

Hundreds of nurses in Vancouver for a B.C. Nurses Union conference marched along the streets of Vancouver Wednesday (May 31, 2023) calling for safer staffing levels. (Lauren Collins)
Protesters stop at the intersection of Powell and Main streets in Vancouver to listen to speeches on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Lauren Collins photo)

814 people died from toxic drugs in the first 4 months of 2023: BC Coroners Service

Public Safety Ministry says fentanyl has been found in 79% of deaths this year

Protesters stop at the intersection of Powell and Main streets in Vancouver to listen to speeches on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Lauren Collins photo)
B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, January 30, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

‘An important milestone’: Henry, Dix reflect on end of COVID as a global emergency

WHO downgraded COVID, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, January 30, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

B.C. safe supply advocates rally to mark 7 years of toxic drug crisis

More than 11,300 British Columbians have died from toxic drug deaths since 2016

Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Physician assistants are valued members of the health-care system in many provinces in Canada, but not in B.C. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

Physician assistants improve health care in provinces that recognize them; B.C. doesn’t

‘It’s a waste of a resource. I could see hundreds of patients right in this area…’

Physician assistants are valued members of the health-care system in many provinces in Canada, but not in B.C. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
Physician assistants are valued members of other provinces’ healthcare systems, but the B.C. government does not recognize their qualifications. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

Military and university-trained physician assistants rejected by B.C.’s health system

They are ready and willing, but due to provincial policies, these healthcare workers are not able

Physician assistants are valued members of other provinces’ healthcare systems, but the B.C. government does not recognize their qualifications. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
B.C. health minister Adrian Dix at the Union of B.C. Municipalities last month in Whistler. (Credit: Union of B.C. Municipalities)

‘System collapsing’: B.C.’s Health Minister under fire after ‘horrifying’ story from Penticton

‘Sadly, this NDP government is not listening,’ said Penticton MLA Dan Ashton

B.C. health minister Adrian Dix at the Union of B.C. Municipalities last month in Whistler. (Credit: Union of B.C. Municipalities)
The BC Coroner’s Office reports that there were 582 suicide deaths investigated in B.C. in 2021, down from 597 in 2020 and 634 in 2019. In Canada, men account for 75% of suicides. (File photo)

$2M in funding announced for care plan to help those at risk of suicide in B.C.

The investment is part of a larger strategy, A Pathway to Hope, to improve mental-health care

The BC Coroner’s Office reports that there were 582 suicide deaths investigated in B.C. in 2021, down from 597 in 2020 and 634 in 2019. In Canada, men account for 75% of suicides. (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)
BC School Sports tournaments can now resume after a Feb. 3 decision from the Ministry of Education. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)

‘It’s official’: BC School Sports gets green light to resume tournaments

The Ministry of Education initially prevented such events from happening, amid the pandemic

BC School Sports tournaments can now resume after a Feb. 3 decision from the Ministry of Education. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)
Julie MacArthur, expecting twins as soon as March, is among a group of pregnant Greater Victoria people who fought to get a booster shot earlier than six months after their second vaccination, and ahead of giving birth. (Courtesy of Julie MacArthur)

B.C. shortens wait between second, third vaccine doses for pregnant people

Pregnant women tell Black Press Media previous policy left them fighting for earlier shots

Julie MacArthur, expecting twins as soon as March, is among a group of pregnant Greater Victoria people who fought to get a booster shot earlier than six months after their second vaccination, and ahead of giving birth. (Courtesy of Julie MacArthur)