Doctors of BC releases interviews with political party leaders on health priorities

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Ahead of voting for the 2024 Provincial General Election, Doctors of BC has released video interviews conducted about the organizations’ election priority strategy.

Dr Ahmer Karimuddin, President of Doctors of BC, stated in a press release on October 7th that a commitment to ‘real and tangible change’ is important, regardless of which party wins the election. 

“While a great deal of work has been done in recent years, major health system challenges persist and require careful attention,” Dr. Karimuddin said. 

“We need assurances that they will continue to work closely with doctors as leaders to help develop true solutions.”

The interviews, focused on the Temperature Rising strategy, featured David Eby of the NDP, John Rustad of the Conservative Party, and Sonia Fustenau of the Green Party. 

“Our hope is that our physician members and the public take the time to compare the answers to our important questions ahead of October 19,” adds Dr Karimuddin. 

All the candidates spoke about what they have heard from residents across the province and outlined their strategies for improving the provincial healthcare system. 

Eby spoke about clearing the path for internationally trained healthcare professionals to enter the system, working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons BC to decrease the timeline of training and recertification to six weeks. 

“Now’s the time to invest, to train the healthcare workers we need, so we don’t find ourselves in this situation again,” Eby said. 

Furstenau discussed the Green Party’s community health model, improving the current ‘dysfunctional’ system to increase healthcare workers’ quality of life and incentivizing higher employment and retention levels. 

“We need to value the people who are delivering healthcare in this province, and we start by ensuring the conditions are great for the healthcare providers,” Furstenau said.

During his interview, Rustad brought up the Conservative Party’s desire to reduce government management of healthcare.

“We need to make sure that we get the red tape out of the system, we need to dramatically reduce the administration and the administration costs to allow doctors and nurses to focus on their patients, as opposed to paperwork,” Rustad said. 

To read Doctors of BC’s election priority strategy Temperature Rising, see below.