A Vancouver-area emergency department has now turned away patients for a fifth time, showing how the New Democrats’ fumbling of doctor shortages is impacting urban and rural British Columbia alike.
While the health minister is keen to recite statistics about net gains in recruitment of physicians and nurses, those gains are not keeping up with a booming population as emergency department closures become more common. CTV News was first to report that emergency departments at three hospitals have quietly rejected patients at the doors, as the health authorities and provincial officials seek to minimize the “bad optics” of urban service failures.
“The problem will not go away after Labour Day; it won’t go away in the fall,” acknowledged Fraser Health vice-president of medicine Dr. Ralph Belle. “I suspect this will be a little bit of a long-term problem.”..
Source:bc.ctvnews.ca
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
