Health authorities in B.C. have given out about $393 million worth of contracts to private clinics to provide surgeries and medical imaging over the past six years, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
That money is going toward low-risk surgeries, such as endoscopy, cataracts and “low acuity” orthopedics, report author Andy Longhurst told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.
The issue, Longhurst adds, is that money and staff are being taken away from the public sector.
“There’s no question that there has been and continues to be extraordinary pressure on our public health-care system,” said Longhurst, a health policy analyst with the CCPA, an independent think-tank.
“The challenge with providing and entrenching for-profit facilities is they’re relying on the same workforce that we need right now in our public system.”
Longhurst says what’s more concerning is the annual dollar amount for contracted surgeries continues to grow. In the 2015-16 year under $10 million in contracts for surgeries was given out, he found; by 2020-21, it was nearing $30 million.
“Every day we hear another story of shuttered health-care services and hospitals in our public system. If we’re expecting that same staff to be working in for-profit facilities, we’re going to make our staffing shortages in the public system worse,” he said.
