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| UBCM 2010: Medicare supporters around the province call on Municipal Councils to protect and expand public health care in British Columbia |
This year's Union of BC Municipalities AGM takes place this month in Whistler. Municipal governments from around the province gather to address common issues and advance shared concerns to the provincial government.
The cities of Victoria and New Westminster have brought forward a resolution (B-155 FOR-PROFIT CLINICS) that calls on the province to stop the expansion of for-profit surgical and MRI/CT clinics in B.C. These businesses lead to unequal, two-tier care that most of us can't afford. It's special treatment for the very wealthy that leaves the rest of us worse off - with longer wait lists and declining care.
Municipal governments play an important role in protecting public health services in their communities. Support for Resolution B155 is one of the many actions that municipal officials can take to protect and improve our public health care system and promote the development of public, not-for-profit health care facilities.
Take Action! Click here to e-mail your Municipal Council and ask that it support the pro-public healthcare resolution. If this resolution passes, it will send an important signal to the provincial government and the private, for-profit clinic owners who are setting up shop in B.C.
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| Health Coalition calls on province to scrap patients' fees |
 The BCHC is calling on the province to reverse a recent directive requiring BC health authorities to charge fees to patients who need hospital care to recover from illness or injury.
Following a policy change in January of this year, the Ministry of Health Services quietly directed health authorities to bill patients $29.40 per day for their recovery time in hospital.
Health authorities began to impose the fees over the spring and summer. These core hospital services had previously been provided free of charge as required by the Canada Health Act.
These fees unfairly penalize patients during their recovery, many of whom are likely to be elderly and suffer from chronic health conditions. In addition to the daily fees, which total almost $900 per month, many will also have to pay the costs of maintaining their homes where they plan to return after their hospital stay.
Take Action! Click here to send a letter to Health Minister Kevin Falcon to demand an end to fees for convalescent care and to instead address the costs of hospital services by investing in home and community care services to reduce pressure on the acute care system.
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| Take action with fellow public health care supporters this fall |
From October 25th to November 5th, public health care supporters will be meeting with elected officials across the province to demand action on home and community care issues.
We will be calling for a halt to user fees for convalescent care, immediate implementation of the Ombudsperson's recommendations on seniors' care, and action on other issues pertinent to local communities.
The BCHC's regional networks are assisting participants with setting up meetings with their local MLAs and making presentations to Health Authority boards, as well as providing resources on interacting with elected officials and materials on home and community care issues.
Sign up! Click here for more information and to sign up to participate in your community.
Join us! Click here if you belong to an organization that would like to endorse the Home and Community Care campaign.
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| Youth Engagement Strategy kicks off for fall with Grandparents Day activities |
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"I love my Nonna." "I respect my grandparents. The health care system should too." "Grandparents are sensational storytellers." These were some of the messages that the BCHC received as the Youth Engagement Strategy launched on BC campuses for Grandparents Day.
"Young people understand the importance of a health care system that treats seniors, and everyone, with dignity and respect," says Anna Hilliar of BCHC member organization Check Your Head. "We are calling on the province to make the well-being of our grandparents and elders a priority - to start, by implementing the Ombudsperson's recommendations on seniors care."
For the past three years the Youth Engagement Strategy has been presenting workshops on our public health care system to young people all over BC.
Through facilitated discussions and interactive activities, participants explore the values behind universal care, encounter the realities of for-profit health care, and discuss the history of our health care system. The workshops provide a space for much-needed youth-to-youth education on systems of health care. A "train the trainer" workshop is also available for all ages which offers strategies and activities for engaging youth, and people of all ages, on the topic of health care.
To learn more about the project, to get involved, and to book a workshop in your community, click here.
Check Your Head is a youth-driven organization whose youth facilitators offer well-researched, interactive, and easy to understand workshops to elementary and high school aged youth on many local and global issues. Since its inception, Check Your Head has delivered over 1,800 workshops and reached over 50,000 youth in BC and across Canada.
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