For immediate release
December 1, 2022
VICTORIA, B.C. – Today, the Minister of Health announced the Medical Service Commission has applied to the British Columbia Supreme Court for an injunction against Telus Health’s LifePlus Program. The B.C. Greens have been calling for a review of Telus Health since February, 2022.
“While a million British Columbians go without a family doctor, and our emergency wards are full of sick children,Telus Health has quietly been charging thousands of dollars per year for access to primary healthcare. We have persistently raised this issue with the Minister and are relieved that action has finally been taken, but why has it taken so long?” said Sonia Furstenau, leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley.
“While this was being investigated, the BC NDP government should have been creating community health centres across B.C. to ensure that everyone has access to primary care. We are concerned that today’s injunction could leave even more British Columbians without access to a doctor.
“This government fails to act proactively again and again. Telus and other for-profit companies have stepped into the gaps in B.C.’s healthcare system. The solution is to protect universal healthcare by creating a network of community health centres where doctors and their teams of health professionals could be meeting the needs of British Columbians.
“Instead, this government has significantly increased spending on administration costs in healthcare. We need the focus to be on the front-end delivery of care, on supporting nurses, nurse practitioners, and doctors to be able to put all of their attention on their patients. We have the capacity and the people to provide the highest quality public health care for British Columbians. We need a government that believes we can do it.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | jojo.beattie@leg.bc.ca