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'The core services provided by the health authority are being cut.' - Health critic Adrian Dix.
Vancouver (12 Aug. 2009) - The B.C. New Democratic Party has obtained a leaked document showing that the government-run Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) plans to cut more than 6,000 surgeries and close a number of emergency rooms in Vancouver to slash costs.
NDP health critic Adrian Dix says the authority is preparing to reduce neurosurgeries, vascular disease treatments, joint replacements and services in 11 other specialized areas.
"We're certainly not talking about nose jobs and tummy tucks; we're talking about medically necessary elective surgery," Dix says.
"No one is suggesting that, if someone comes into emergency, they're going to allow them to die, because that would be absurd and illegal, but what we are saying is that the core services provided by the health authority are being cut."
Under the proposal, Dix says, the VCHA would also close nearly a quarter of its operating rooms from September through March 2010 and eliminate 112 full-time jobs.
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