May 20 2025 – Paul Adams – BC Rural Health Network
Across rural BC, accessing essential healthcare is increasingly defined by geography, cost, and chance.
This month, we continue to hear from residents across the province facing life-altering delays and mounting out-of-pocket expenses just to receive necessary medical care. Access to emergency departments, diagnostic services, and specialized treatment is unstable, especially in communities where local services are shrinking or closing altogether.
Governments have made welcome investments to improve systems, train more healthcare professionals, and attract new providers to British Columbia. These measures are necessary, and the announcements of new facilities, medical schools, and systemic reviews are encouraging. However, meaningful results from these efforts are still years away, and rural residents need action now.
This past weekend, emergency rooms in Lillooet, Keremeos, and Vanderhoof were closed. Other communities where temporary changes to operational hours were made years ago, appear to be in place permanently which further impacts reasonable access to care. These are not minor detours. These closures force families and patients to travel hours to reach emergency care. At the same time, roadways are becoming busier due to increasing seasonal domestic travel, and the promotion of buy Canadian iniatives. Recent winter driving conditions on several mountain passes further increased risks for those travelling or just trying to reach care. The system is asking BC rural residents to shoulder impossible burdens for services others can access close to home.
In our conversations this month, we’ve heard how these barriers to care go beyond coping with an emergency situation. They impact phyisical health, mental well-being, increase financial strain, and chip away at a sense of security. Missing appointments, delaying treatment, or forgoing care altogether is becoming far too common. Without access to primary care, many people only seek help when conditions escalate. And when emergency rooms are closed or hours away, those delays can be deadly.
Fortunately, several organizations continue to help bridge the gaps:
- Hope Air provides free flights to patients traveling long distances for medical care. However, due to funding constraints, they have recently had to eliminate accommodation support for patients staying away from home.
- The Canadian Cancer Society’s Oncology Travel and Accommodation Fund helps eligible cancer patients with travel and lodging costs, but its future beyond fiscal 2025 remains uncertain.
- Angel Flight East Kootenay connects patients in the region to Kelowna, though they rely on inconsistent, year-end funding to operate.
- Helicopters Without Borders brings care to remote communities, but with only one helicopter and no long-term funding security, their reach is currently limited.
These programs are lifelines, but they are under enormous pressure. As demand grows, awareness and stable funding must rise with it.
Later this week, we will release a media statement outlining the scale and urgency of these access issues. For now, we want to acknowledge the resilience of rural residents and call on government and health system leaders to act with urgency. Rural BC is in a healthcare crisis. Emergency measures must be taken to restore acceptable levels of access to emergency and primary care in our existing rural hospitals and clinics. The measures required need to keep the ER doors open and stabilize travel assistance programming for rural residents across BC.
In the meantime, please help us share information about the services that do exist. If someone you know is struggling with medical travel costs, let them know about Hope Air, the CCS Oncology Travel Fund, Angel Flight East Kootenay, Helicopters without Borders or send them to us for more information. If your community is experiencing ER closures or access issues, reach out to us. Your stories shape our voice.
Many rural residents who need help simply don’t know what supports are available. We are here to assist. Communication gaps remain one of the biggest challenges in reaching rural communities. Travel assistance is not just for those living below the poverty line but certainly helps those who are. While some programs have income-based eligibility, many are open to individuals and families earning up to $150,000 annually. These supports make care more equitable and are part of the public healthcare system we all rely on and that we all pay for.
Let’s keep raising our voices. Access delayed is often access denied, and in rural BC, the cost of delay is measured in lives.
This article was published today in our Mid May Newseletter and you can see the full newsletter here and visit our website here.
