Verdict in Cambie Surgery Centre Case: Public Health Care Wins!

Today we got some very exciting news!

More than a decade ago, the CEO of Cambie Surgery Centre, Dr. Brian Day, launched a legal attack against public health care by seeking to strike down critical sections of the BC Medicare Protection Act.

It has been a long hard fight, but today, BC Supreme Court Justice Steeves handed down a landmark ruling in the Cambie Surgery Centre case ensuring that access to health care will continue to be based on need and not on ability to pay.

Today public health care won!

This is a victory for everyone who uses health care in British Columbia and across Canada. Even though the attack was launched in BC, it took aim at the very heart of the Canada Health Act and every province’s public health care laws.

HSA is part of a group of patients, doctors, and health care advocates who got involved in the case from the very beginning to protect and defend our universal pubic health care system. We made the case that that private, for-profit health care drains resources from the public system and leaves us with longer wait times. And that the changes sought by Dr. Brian Day to allow for private care to flourish would usher in US-style two-tiered health care.

The current public health emergency caused by COVID-19 has underscored just how important our public health care system is. This decision protects our ability to endure this crisis and care for one other into the future.

It is possible that Dr. Day will appeal this ruling, but for today we should celebrate this clear defence of our public health care system and recommit ourselves to make it even better going forward. We know public solutions are how we can maintain a sustainable, robust health care system that is there for everyone.

You can find out more about the case the this landmark ruling at savemedicare.ca

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