Powell River is a small city of around 15,000 people, servicing another 5,000 in the surrounding Qathat Regional District from Lund at the end of Hwy 101, to Saltery Bay 60 kms south. There are several island communities that are also part of the district, which is separated from the Lower Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island by water, so it is ferry dependent.
Since the 1980s the mill that founded the original settler community was steadily downsizing and the health and wealth of the community declined with it. For the last few decades, many retirees have moved into the district from larger urban centres, significantly increasing the average age of the population and the need for health services of the older population. We have few specialists in town and travel to Comox, Vancouver or Victoria to see specialists is a constant challenge and expense, especially for seniors.
More recently, many younger families have moved to the district, escaping the high cost of living (especially housing) in the urban centres, and seeking a healthier lifestyle and environment. They are finding jobs in health care and education or are able to work remotely for employers situated elsewhere (which doesn’t attract new industries or improve the tax base).
Powell River shares with other rural communities many of the same challenges when it comes to health care. The shortage of family physicians is growing more acute here, with many retirements and difficulty attracting new graduates. One advantage we have had over some other rural communities is that we have a functioning hospital that couldn’t be closed down by past governments due to our ferry dependancy. Our ER is open 24/7 and we have a couple of clinics that offer drop-in hours, however many new people cannot find a regular MD and many long-time residents are losing doctors they’ve had for years.
Powell River initially weathered Covid-19 very well. Before we had a vaccine, the community rallied around the lockdown measures, supported health-care workers, and provided mutual aid between neighbours, friends and families. It seemed like most of the population with a sewing machine was making masks and hanging them on fenceposts free for the asking, or selling them at the farmer’s market. People shopped for elderly neighbours. We had very few cases of the virus at all in the first year — ferry isolation was an advantage here — and most of those came into town from workers returning from northern job sites.
When the vaccine arrived we all registered in droves and the worst seemed to be over. But more recently, we had our own local version of the “freedom convoy” demonstrating weekly and there are new challenges here, as there are in other communities — both urban and rural.
Although we don’t get weekly case counts by region anymore, I personally know far more people who have had a diagnosis in 2022 with the Omicron variant than I heard about in the previous two years. Health care workers are stressed and burnt out and off on sick leave and no one brings them pizza and donuts anymore.
Two positive developments offer some hope for improvement locally. The Tla’amin First Nation has established a brand new health centre on their territory, offering a full range of health care services to their people. They work very closely with the Powell River hospital, the Powell River Division of Family Practice, and other First Nations on Vancouver Island to provide excellent, timely and culturally appropriate care. I will be visiting the clinic next week for a tour and am excited to learn how they are faring.
The Division of Family Practice has been working for some time to increase support and collaboration between health care workers and towards establishing a Primary Care Network. They are at the Ministry of Health approval stage in this process, and hope to begin implementation soon. They are actively engaged with those of us interested in the Community Health Centre model. The BC Rural Health Network can be an important advance towards such a goal.
Submitted by Drena McCormack
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