The CEO of the Fraser Health Authority says NDP health critic Adrian Dix is misleading the public about the prospect of cuts to health-care services, based on leaked documents.
Dr. Nigel Murray said the papers quoted by Dix are only planning documents, and no decisions have been made on any suggested cuts to services, hospital beds, operating rooms or programs.
"That's a really good example … of where this kind of information in the public domain — which is a draft document — is totally misleading. In fact, we have no intention of cutting 200 beds. In fact, Fraser Health is building beds as fast as we can," said Murray.
Cost-sharing and administrative efficiencies are the first place the health authority will look for savings, but cuts to services can't be ruled out, said Murray.
Documents point to cuts: Dix
On Monday, Dix released internal documents that say the Fraser Health Authority is considering deep cuts to make up for a $160-million deficit by closing 5½ operating rooms, downgrading the emergency room at Mission Memorial Hospital, closing diabetes programs in Delta and Mission and cutting 200 acute care beds.
Dix said the documents are evidence the B.C. Liberal government knew about the looming deficits before last May's provincial election. Following the election, Health Minister Kevin Falcon told the province's regional health authorities they would have to cut an estimated $360 million in spending plans to stick within their budgets for the year.
The current B.C. health-care budget of about $15.7 billion is expected to climb by more than $2 billion by 2011, an increase of 87 per cent since 2001, according to ministry officials
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/07/28/bc-ndp-fraser-health-authority-cuts.html#socialcommentssnip from message board
Swerver
You hit the nail on the head! Locally elected boards worked very well and the administrators were held accountable to that board - which represented the community that the hospital served.
At present, nobody is held accountable for all of these boondoggles.
And how about the leased vehicles that sit idle, sometimes 16-20 hours per day. Wouldn't it make more sense and cost less to pay employees mileage when they have to use their vehicles for work related business?
When I'm premier, I want you for my Minister of Health. I wish the public cared enough to act against the government - in a peaceful way - and get the change needed to get us back to a real democracy.
()()()()(
The Health Authorities in this province have become huge corporate entities with multiple, interweaving layers of management and massive numbers of off-site staff that have NOTHING to do with delivering actual health care. The IHA alone operates multiple buildings in different cities to house these people, 99% of which have never seen the inside of an actual health care facility.
Over the years I've seen these 'managers' make decisions so stupid and wasteful it's mind-boggling, like re-tarring a roof with a foot of wet snow on it, re-doing the job in the Spring because the roof leaked worse than ever and then CLOSING the building a few months later because it was uninhabitable! Another example that still has me shaking my head was the introduction a few years ago of a cordless telephone system much like the ones people have in their homes. It required wiring the hospital with multiple repeater stations at great expense and inconvenience and issuing each worker with his/her own phone so that they theoretically could contact any other stall member at any time. A good idea on the surface but it turned out to be so complex, unworkable and unreliable that people just refused to use them and within weeks piles of unused phones accumulated in the nursing stations. At least 2 separate wireless paging systems were tried after that with identical results. The pagers are still sitting in their racks completely useless 2 years later. Of course, no one is willing to talk about the cost of these boondoggles, and they're just the tip of the iceberg.
The only answer is to dissolve the Health Authorities ASAP and return control of our hospitals and care facilities to local boards who are directly responsible to their communities and are not beholden to the government of the day.
))()(
Campbell and his minions are following the IMF rules that corrupt governments have followed all over the world to reduce their people to poverty!The IMF, World Bank and multinational corporations influenced corrupt right wing governments all over the world to do exactly what Campbell is doing to BC and it's people!
Increase taxes wherever and as high as possible. Cut and slash all social programs including health care and especially education! If people are uneducated they are more easily controlled! Sell or privatize all the peoples assets to the multinational corporations so they can see the services back to you at huge profits. Build up the debt so the taxes collected and export earning go to pay off the debt and not provide any social benefits!
If you doubt this, Google any country " Argentine IMF" or "Indonesia IMF" and read the horror stories. The privatization of BC Hydro was just the beginning and the selling of BC Rail was an example! Medicare and education is next and if Harper brings in the SPP it will be much easier for them!
And to make sure they can do this without the people causing problems, Harper and Bush signed an agreement that allows him to call in US troops if he needs them!!
()()()()
Logged
