US Edition
B.C. ER Patients Who Left without Being Seen up 160% in 6 Years
BRITISH COLUMBIA, JUL 23 – Nearly 142,000 patients left emergency rooms without care in 2024-2025, an 86% increase since 2018, driven by physician shortages and fewer walk-in clinic services.
- An 86 per cent surge in ER departures, according to a FOI request to the B.C. Ministry of Health, shows largest increases in Fraser Health Authority and Vancouver Island Health Authority.
- General practitioner and physician shortages strain ER capacity, Fraser Health Authority's population grew 4.6 per cent, and Brennan Day said clinics now require appointments.
- Vancouver Island Health Authority saw 7.3 per cent of patients leave before care against a 2 per cent target, according to Island Health performance measures document.
- In political response, B.C. Conservatives called the figures `devastating` after emergency room physician Kaitlin Stockton launched a lawsuit alleging threats over `unacceptable` wait times.
- Facing worsening projections, Brennan Day warned numbers will worsen and urged focus on primary care, while B.C. Conservatives called for investments, oversight and an ER capacity audit.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Data reveals dramatic spike in patients leaving B.C. emergency rooms without receiving care
Provincial data obtained through a freedom-of-information request reveals that the number of people in B.C. leaving emergency rooms without receiving care has spiked — with the largest increases seen in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Island Health authorities.
Northern Health 'making progress' with ER closures in northeast B.C., minister says – Energeticcity.ca
B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne in Burnaby on June 10th, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck) FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The provincial government says Northern Health is “making progress” in reducing the number of hospital closures in the region. During the July 14th board of the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) directors, a letter from the Ministry of Health on emergency room closures was reviewed. So far in 2025, there have been 20 e…
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