Public Eye Online attended the BC Budget lockup yesterday and was good to provide a transcript of the Minister's meeting with the media.
Media: So again, that's $1 billion for the remaining 4,800 beds?
Minister Hansen: No. What I said was that there's about $1 billion built into the budget for additional funding for health
authorities.
In reading it Hansen tells us the Billion dollars being sent to Health Authorities is not earmarked for care beds. The regional health authorities can use the funds to meet local needs. The Liberals will no doubt tell local authorities to get the beds.
The question is; has Hansen actually sent enough money for all the health care needs? He uses the word flexibility again. Under this government flexibility is code for privatisation and or "we don't know yet how we are going to do this.
The exchange is here ... There is much more reading at Public Eye Online.
Media: Given the fact the government failed to fulfill its 2001 promise to create 5,000 long-term care beds, I thought I'd see some specific targeted funds for that. What money will you put towards fulfilling that promise?
Minister Hansen: Well, what you see in the budget is about a billion dollars that will go to regional health authorities around the province. And health authorities have an obligation to meet the healthcare needs of citizens in those areas. So, built into that, are the monies that they're going to need to allocate to ensure that target gets met by the end of 2008. Basically every health authority is in a very different position when it comes to where they're at and where they have to get to. And it's something we've learned over the last two and a half years is that what works in Dawson Creek isn't necessarily going to work necessarily in downtown Vancouver or vice-versa. So we have provided that flexibility. It's one of the regions why the regionalized health structure we have today is working for British Columbians. So the dollars we've talked about are built into those allocations.
Media: So again, that's $1 billion for the remaining 4,800 beds?
Minister Hansen: No. What I said was that there's about
$1 billion built into the budget for additional funding for health
authorities.
Media: To create those remaining beds?
Minister Hansen: For all of their needs. Let me just add to that a bit. Because there's a variety of ways that health authorities and other agencies - it's not just health authorities - are meeting the needs of seniors housing in the province. And seniors housing with care components to it - which is what we're talking about in the 5,000 beds commitment. So it's not just a case of government going out and borrowing capital and building a building and then hiring staff to operate it. The tradition in this province has always been one of working with the not-for-profit sector and the private sector to meet the housing needs of seniors. And the government has come to the table to provide support for those with lower incomes that can't afford the market rates for those kinds of facilities. We also come to the table to provide the necessary healthcare supports in those facilities. So there's a variety of ways of doing that. So we're not saying, "Here is a recipe that's dictated out of Victoria on how to do that." We're actually sitting down and working with local providers to see how that can best be met.
More reading at Public Eye Online.
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