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For The Record

THE FACTS ON HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

June 10, 2009
Ministry of Health Services
 

Letters to the Editor

The Government of British Columbia has made significant progress in training, retaining, recruiting and educating new health professionals.  Some examples include:

  • The province’s medical school has doubled the number of undergraduate first-year medical student spaces at UBC from 128 in 2001 to 256 today.
  • The Province has also confirmed a fourth medical program will begin at UBC Okanagan in 2011/2012 to improve access to health care across the southern Interior.
  • When these undergraduate expansions are complete, the province expects to graduate 288 MDs every year.
  • In 2008, the Canadian Medical Association count of B.C. physicians translates into 220 physicians per 100,000 population – both GPs and specialists – compared to 199 per 100,000 for Canada. B.C. ranks second in Canada after Nova Scotia (246 per 100,000).
  • According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), between 2003 and 2007, B.C. had the highest in–migration of physicians, with 368 physicians moving here from other provinces.
  • Our Family Physicians for B.C. program provides incentives for recently-graduated family physicians to establish practice in under-served communities across the province. Through this program, we’ve attracted 72 new family doctors to these communities.
  • Since 2001, government has invested $189 million to educate, recruit and retain nurses.
  • The Ministry of Health Services has worked with the Ministry of Advanced Education to:
    • Add 4,000 new nurse education spaces, double the number compared to 2001;
    • Create 24 new nursing education program at public post-secondary institutions in B.C. since 2001 including 12 degree programs and 11 certificate programs;
    • Produce a record number of nursing graduates, who have received close to 13,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates since 2001;
    • Provide over $15 million in grants for more than 4,300 nursing students needing financial assistance;
    • Provide about $1.75 million in B.C. student loan forgiveness for nursing graduates who work in underserved B.C. communities for three years;
    • Establish the first three-year accelerated nursing degree program in B.C. with a first intake of 64 students in August 2008.  Approximately 136 graduates from the new program will enter the workforce in 2011/12, increasing to 192 graduates in 2013/14.
  • For the last three years, health authorities have offered positions to all graduating nurses in B.C.
  • In May 2005, B.C. graduated their first group of nurse practitioners, and in 2008 we reached the milestone of over 100 nurse practitioners.
  • Since 2001, the B.C. Nursing Strategy has supported the integration of 581 Internationally Educated Nurses into the B.C. health system.
  • The Return to Nursing Fund has supported over 1,100 nurses to re-integrate in the nursing workforce.
  • B.C. has allocated over $1.5 million for an Aboriginal Nursing Strategy to increase the number of nurses of Aboriginal ancestry working in B.C. and to increase the number of Aboriginal communities in B.C. with quality nursing care.
  • Almost 1,000 education spaces have been added for allied health professionals, including diagnostic, clinical and rehabilitation specialists. We’ve also added over 500 new spaces to train residential care aides
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Letters to the Editor

June 1, 2009
Letter to the Editor
B.C. WORKING HARD TO PROVIDE BETTER BIRTH CARE
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: Vancouver Sun
Status: Not Published
Just because B.C. mothers receive fewer epidurals than the national average, one should not assume that this is a reflection of the quality of care provided. [Read More]

December 31, 2008
Letter to the Editor
MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN-TRAINED PHYSICIANS 
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: Vancouver Sun
Status: Published January 2, 2008
I read with interest your article on Dec. 31, "Foreign trained doctors have difficulty returning." The Province of British Columbia is doing a number of things to help international medical graduates, and especially those who are Canadian citizens who trained abroad. [Read More]

December 10, 2008
Letter to the Editor
NEW MOTHERS BENEFIT FROM NEW PHYSICIANS, MIDWIVES
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: The Province
Status: Not Published
I’d like to thank the Province for raising important points in its Dec. 10 editorial “Taking care of mothers.” [Read More]

November 19, 2008
Letter to the Editor
$189 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NURSES SINCE 2001
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: The Province
Status: Not Published
Re: “Increased effort needed to attract and keep nurses,“ Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008, A15
I read with interest the letter from nursing students Shainne Mercado and Karen Tjomsaas. [Read More]

August 25, 2008
Letter to the Editor
MINISTRY AGGRESSIVELY RECRUITS DOCTORS FOR ASHCROFT
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: The Province
Status: Not Published
Our government takes very seriously the challenges faced by communities with physician recruitment and retention. [Read More]

June 27, 2008
Letter to the Editor
ATTRACTING PHYSICIANS TO RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES
By George Abbott
Minister of Health Services
Submitted: The Globe and Mail
Status: Not Published
Re: In the fight for good doctors, the future may come from the highest bidders, June 26, 2008
As your June 26 article suggests, the shortage of doctors is an issue in Canada – especially in rural and remote areas, such as Armstrong. That’s why the B.C. government has taken a number of steps to promote physician recruitment in under-serviced parts of the province. [Read More]