Dix Plans Summer Tour As B.C. Hospitals Face ‘Crises’

Health Minister Adiren Dix will be visiting BC hospitals this summer as the province deals with chronic overcrowding and staffing level concerns.

“Every day, every single day, is intense across the system.”, said Dix.

“If you don’t have good enough primary care, people have to go to the emergency room. If you don’t have enough long-term care, and people are on the wards, you can’t move people from the emergency room to the wards.”

His actions come as health care across the province is at a breaking point, with some hospitals closing overnight or over weekends due to staffing issues.

Yesterday, Dix was speaking at Surrey Memorial Hospital where he says the ongoing patient and staffing issues have created a stressful atmosphere, and he acknowledges it is a problem in other districts.

He says he wants to meet with hospitals to find solutions for their workplaces that work for them.

However, he didn’t give a specific list of which areas he’ll be visiting for the meetings.