City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa wants to engage the community in a conversation about which health authority it should be part of.
Formosa raised the issue during a strategic planning session on Thursday, April 5. “We need to start a grassroots conversation, thinking of our health delivery system in this community, as it is today and how it might need to be,” he said.
Powell River is part of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). But Formosa said he would like to hear from the community about whether it should be part of Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA).
Recently, he, MLA Nicholas Simons, who represents Powell River-Sunshine Coast, and Councillor Maggie Hathaway, who is also Simons’ constituency assistant, had a discussion about the issue, Formosa said. “We know that Vancouver Coastal Health is very close to amalgamating with Fraser Health,” he said. “If that happens, this might not be good for us, because we will just get watered down that much more.”
Formosa said it might be better if Powell River was part of Vancouver Island Health Authority. “We’re one ferry ride away,” he said, pointing out that Powell River residents are frequently sent to Vancouver Island for medical services.
“I think we need to make a decision, do we want to be with Vancouver Island?” Formosa said. “If we do, then Nicholas and I need to go have a discussion with [Health Minister Michael] de Jong, quickly.”
Formosa also brought up the issue of the vacant position for a radiologist at Powell River General Hospital. “We don’t have a radiologist and if they get their way, we’re not going to have one,” he said.
Formosa said the advertisement for a radiologist was up on VCH’s website, then it was taken down. After he did some “probing, with our political abilities,” it went back up, he said. “If they get their way,” he said, Powell River is not going to have a radiologist. “We might get somebody here one day a week,” he added.
Formosa said he would like Powell River to be part of VIHA. “If there is agreement with that...we need to come together on this one if this is the right thing to do.”
Hathaway said a good first step is to meet with the medical community. “How do they see it? They’re the ones who know,” she said. “Would that work for them, because they’re the ones sending their patients places.”
In an email to the Peak, Simons wrote most people who need to leave the community for medical care receive services through VIHA. He recently broke his wrist while he was refereeing a friendly hockey game between the RCMP and Powell River firefighters. He pointed out that he has to go to Campbell River for follow-up care. “Any suggestion that makes sense on the surface should be looked into further, to see if it would benefit the community,” he wrote. “We should be always looking for ways to improve health care delivery. The first place to have this kind of discussion would be with the health authorities and the ministry of health.”
Anna Marie D’Angelo, VCH’s senior public affairs officer, told the Peak there were no plans to amalgamate VCH and Fraser Health. “We have consolidated some back-end services, like pharmacy, but that was just for efficiencies,” she said. “Some of our facilities are consolidated, but the health authorities are distinct.”
The ministry of health has the authority to set health boundaries, D’Angelo also said.
VCH is actively looking for a radiologist for Powell River, D’Angelo said. “We hope to have some good news for the community soon,” she said. “It’s premature to discuss anything further.”
D’Angelo confirmed that Powell River residents are being referred to Sechelt and Comox for radiology tests. “When they go to Comox, you might think it’s a private clinic, but it’s MSP [Medical Services Plan] funded,” she said. “It can be privately owned, but they’re not paying for it. It’s covered under MSP.”
A health ministry spokesperson also confirmed there were no discussions to merge Lower Mainland health authorities. [Editor's note: This sentence has been corrected since the original article was posted.]
VCH serves 25 per cent of BC’s population, over one million people including residents of Vancouver, Richmond, the North Shore and Coast Garibaldi, Sea-to-Sky, Sunshine Coast, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola. It receives $2.8 billion in funding.
VIHA serves 17 per cent of BC’s population, about 770,000 residents on Vancouver Island, the islands of the Strait of Georgia and mainland communities north of Powell River and south of Rivers Inlet. Its budget is $1.8 billion and it has more than 150 facilities.
