B.C. LIBERALS’ INNOVATIONS IN HEALTH CARE INVOLVE PRIVATIZATION
B.C. LIBERALS’ INNOVATIONS IN HEALTH CARE INVOLVE PRIVATIZATION,
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
Government documents obtained by the opposition are more evidence that the B.C. Liberals are putting the interests of private investors ahead of the interest of patients and families when it comes to delivering health care in British Columbia, says New Democrat health critic Adrian Dix. The internal briefing documents and correspondence reveal that Kip Woodward, the new chair of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Board and an investor in the Cambie Surgical Clinic, was actively pushing the government for increased privatization.“Last fall, Mr. Woodward was pushing Minister Falcon to pursue medical tourism, hand over more contracts to private clinics, and lease out public MRI spaces during a time when wait times are in excess of a year. But despite this, this month Mr. Falcon chose Mr. Woodward as the new chair of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. This raises serious questions about the B.C. Liberals’ so-called push for ‘innovation’ in health care,” said Dix. Ministry of Health briefing materials detail Mr. Woodward's proposals for a November 30, 2009 face-to-face meeting between him and the Health Minister, and contain correspondence sent earlier in September and October. Woodward, who at the time was chair of Providence Health Care, raised several proposals with the Health Minister, including: > Medical tourism, including selling cardiac care and treatments for eating disorders;
> Allowing private clinics to bid for services leasing;> Leasing out ‘excess’ MRI capacity to private insurers for contracted work;> The creation of boutique for-pay services for chronic disease, alcohol and drug rehabilitation and treatment for HIV-AIDS. "The excess MRI capacity Mr. Woodward wants to lease out only exists because the B.C. Liberal government is failing to use the public's investment in diagnostic equipment to tackle wait lists,” said Dix. In 2009, the B.C. Liberals cut over 8,000 publicly-funded MRI procedures in Metro Vancouver, increasing wait times exponentially for residents. Similarly, Mr. Woodward is proposing selling treatment for eating disorders when British Columbians are facing a wait-time of over eight months for this specialized care. Dix noted that, in many cases, receiving this treatment is a matter of life and death. Mr. Woodward was vice chair, and then chair of Providence Health Care when it sold MRI time to Timely Medical Alternatives, a private firm which then charged patients upwards of $1,400 for faster access. Mr. Woodward’s sanctioning of queue-jumping based on the ability to pay resulted in the B.C. government being fined under the Canada Health Act. Dix noted that Woodward's ideas have already been echoed by Falcon. "Mr. Falcon has repeatedly raised the idea of increased medical tourism. Giving wealthy Americans privileged access to B.C. public hospitals is a key part of his vision of health care,” said Dix. Beyond providing insight into the government’s direction on health care, the Woodward letters raise issues of conflict of interest. Woodward is one of the original investors in the Cambie Surgical Centre, which is leading the charge to dismantle the Medicare Protection Act that codifies that need, not ability to pay, determines access to health care. The letters were written on the letterhead of Woodcorp, Woodward’s family-owned private investment corporation, but in the name of Providence Health Care, a key part of B.C.’s public health care system. The letters advocate initiatives that would serve the commercials interests of Mr. Woodward’s investments. "Mr. Woodward is of course free to advocate for the Americanization of health care as a private citizen and an investor. I welcome the debate. But he has been given a key position by this Health Minister in our public health care system, and has been actively advancing an agenda that undermines public health care. British Columbians are not served by this appointment," said Dix.
Carole James and the New Democrats have been holding the B.C. Liberals accountable for breaking their word on the HST, and for backtracking on their election promises to protect health care, education, and other vital services.
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