qathet Regional District board will consider sending a resolution to Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) to improve internet access in BC health-care facilities.
At the February 11 committee of the whole meeting, Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said he had been attending rural connectivity meetings with the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) for the last several months and it has become very clear how important it is to get everyone connected to high-speed internet.
Gisborne said he has spent the last five years in and out of health-care facilities with a family member and what he has found is disturbing, in some cases.
“Even in a downtown hospital in Vancouver, the internet connectivity is poor at best,” said Gisborne.
He said when people go into facilities, there is a great deal of fear that they are losing connection with the outside world, and losing connections with their families. From what has been discussed about rural connectivity and getting everyone connected, there is a big push for how important connectivity is for health care, and how important it is to get people in rural areas connected, according to Gisborne.
“I started thinking if the people that go into a health-care facility in downtown Vancouver are having difficulty getting onto the internet, maybe that’s something the province needs to be aware of and to also make a bit of a priority,” said Gisborne.
He said if the regional board supported the proposed resolution, it would go before the AVICC, where it would be looked at and discussed by the membership.
“It’s just an advocacy resolution,” said Gisborne.
Electoral Area C director Clay Brander said it sounded like a reasonable request. His question was whether any previous similar resolutions had been brought before the AVICC or UBCM. Gisborne said he looked through resolutions before the assemblies and couldn’t find anything specific to health-care facilities.
Electoral Area D director and committee chair Sandy McCormick said she supported the resolution.
“The COVID-19 situation and the pandemic has really made us look at the quality of health care and the services we get,” added McCormick. “We are looking for better internet access throughout the region so it’s certainly appropriate that we advocate for this in the health-care field.”
The committee voted to send the resolution to the regional board for consideration.
