The BC Rural Health Network Member of the Month for October is the BC Health Coalition.
| The BC Health Coalition champions a strong public healthcare system that is there for all of us when we need it. We are a democratic,non-partisan, and consensus-based coalition of individuals and organizationsthat span the province of British Columbia. Together we advocate forevidence-based improvements to our public health care system, stimulate publiceducation on health care issues, and drive positive change to our health caresystem through campaigns across the province. Our ongoing priorities include: defending our health care systemagainst privatization, expanding Medicare and improving access to qualityhealth care for all, and advancingevidence-based public solutions to health care issues. |
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The HealthCoalition is led by the Steering Committee, which consists of labour unions,community groups, public policy organizations, and health care non-profits. TheSteering Committee guides the governance of the coalition on behalf of ourmembers. Current Steering Committee members represent the followingorganizations: · BC Association of Community Health Centres · BC Crisis Lines Network · BC Federation of Labour · BC Federation of Students · BC General Employees Union · Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – BC · Community Action Initiative · Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of BC · Canadian Union of Public Employees BC · Hospital Employees Union · Health Sciences Association · United Food and Commercial Workers 1518 |
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As anadvocacy organization, the coalition works with community groups, labourunions, and coalitions across BC to strengthen and defend public health care.Some of our past victories have included: winning legislation in B.C. toprotect the public voluntary blood donation system and successfully advocatingto scrap unfair MSP fees in BC by 2020. Our current work is focused on threemajor areas: seniors care, anti-privatization, and Community Health Centres. In the seniors’ care area, we campaign to improve and expandpublicly funded home support and end for-profit long-term care. This includestransparency on how public funds are used by for-profit long-term carefacilities as well as eliminating financial barriers to home support such as aco-payment. Last year, the coalition brought together over 174 organizationsrepresenting thousands of workers, seniors, and families in an AccountabilityAssembly to hold the BC government accountable to their mandate in seniors’care. |
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In the area of anti-privatization, we monitor and respond to threats of privatization in the public health care system. This includes the Cambie case, which ended earlier this year after 14 years in the courts. The case was a constitutional challenge by the CEO of a for-profit surgical clinic chain, which threatened the basic principles of the Canada Health Act. In short, the for-profit surgical clinic wanted the public to subsidize their profits and unlawfully charge patients directly at the same time. The BCHC intervened in the case on the side of public health care. After fighting the case for 14 years in the court, the coalition and its partners successfully fought off the challenge with the courts reaffirming that access to health care should remain based on need and not on wealth. BC is experiencing a primary health care access crisis which is continually attributed to a family physician shortage. However, BC currently has more family physicians per capita than at any other time. The actual crisis is that our current primary health care model is unsustainable for health care practitioners to work in. Community Health Centres offer a sustainable model of primary care, in which physicians work alongside a team to provide care for their community. Meanwhile, a community board governs the community health centre letting physicians focus on providing care as opposed to doing administrative tasks. Our work on community health centres has focused on education on the benefits of community health centres through community roundtables, organizing lobby days in Victoria, and speaking up in the media on the primary health care access crisis. We are currently in the planning phases of a public education campaign about Community Health Centres, and are excited to be working closely with the BCRHN to ensure the needs of rural and remote communities are highlighted in this campaign. |
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If you’d like to learn more about any of this work, you can go to our website. Nationally, we work with provincial health coalitions across the country and the Canadian Health Coalition to push for improvements to our public health care system. This includes advocating for a national pharmacare program and increased federal health funding to the provinces that comes with accountability. If you’d like to volunteer with us, you can sign up on our Volunteer page. Make sure you’re subscribed to our mailing list HERE as well for future updates! Any questions or feedback can be directed to info@bchealthcoalition.ca. |
| See more members of the month here. |
