HSA Welcomes NDP Commitment to Add 45,000 Health Care Professionals

The following statement was issued to BC media outlets by HSA President Kane Tse this afternoon:

HSA President Kane Tse welcomed today’s promise by David Eby to add 45,000 health care professionals to BC’s public health care system over the next four years.
 
“I have been meeting with our members – health care professionals across the province – for the past several weeks, and the consistent message I have heard is there are just not enough people to deliver the quality care British Columbians need,” said HSA President Kane Tse.
                                                                                
“It takes a whole team of specialized health care professionals to keep the system going – that includes pharmacists, respiratory therapists, medical lab technologists, medical imaging technologists, occupational and physical therapists – to name just a few of the highly skilled health care professionals who are essential members of the health care team,” he said.
 
“These specialized professionals are being crushed under the workload that is a lasting legacy of years of failure to recognize the need to grow the whole health care team. Recent initiatives that have seen recruitment bonuses, mental health supports, commitment to hiring, and professional development are an encouraging start, but so much more is needed.
 
“Just this week I heard the impact that understaffing at hospitals is having on Vancouver Island. The shortage of radiation therapists critical for timely cancer treatment continues to create concern for patients, and incredible strain for staff working long hours because they know so much is at stake. Respiratory therapists are forced to be on call at all hours because it is so hard to recruit new professionals and retain those facing burnout. Our research tells us that 35% of BC's 22,000 health science professionals are considering jobs elsewhere – or leaving health care completely – because they simply cannot keep up with the workload. 
 
Tse had a word of caution for Eby, and that is that recruitment on its own will not address the shortages and resulting strain on the health care system.
 
“We are in a worldwide shortage of health care professionals. We need to do everything we can to make British Columbia an attractive place to be for health care workers – that includes keeping the health care professionals we have now, as well as attracting health care professionals – new and experienced – to join the team.”
 
“A robust approach to ensuring we have the people and expertise in the health care system MUST include retention strategies and incentives for the specialized health care professionals who have been keeping the system going,” he said.