BURNABY – David Eby announced new commitments that will connect more people to family doctors, faster, with the goal of making sure everyone has access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
“People need more doctors and shorter waits so routine conditions don’t go untreated, and so they don’t have to wait at the hospital,” said Eby. “We’ve taken action to connect thousands of people to family doctors faster than ever. It’s making a difference, and these new actions will connect more people faster. We can have a province where everyone has access to care.”
In less than two years as premier, David Eby has added over 800 new family doctors and connected almost 250,000 people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Another 160,000 are expected to be connected in the next six months. Eby is also taking action to add 128 spaces to the UBC medical school, build a new medical school in Surrey to train the next generation of doctors, and break down barriers to bring internationally trained healthcare workers off the sidelines and into our hospitals and clinics.”
John Rustad’s old government promised “A GP for me” – that every British Columbian who wants a family doctor would have access to one by 2015. Instead of following through, they rejected building a second medical school in Surrey and left 900,000 people without a family doctor – 250,000 more than before they made their promise.
“John Rustad had a slogan but not a plan. For 20 years, he has backed health care cuts that left more and more people without a family doctor,” said Eby. “He’s been clear he’ll hand big tax breaks to big oil companies and make the rest of us pay for it with longer waits and worse care. At a time when we are finally starting to turn a corner, that’s a risk nobody can afford.”
