Tag Archives: Adrian Dix

B.C. moves to attract foreign nurses to overcome critical staffing crisis

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Desperate for healthcare workers, British Columbia announced today a series of initiatives, including bursaries of $16,000 each for 1,500 internationally educated nurses (IENs), to enter the province’s health system.

The $9 million in bursaries will go towards helping IENs get registered and licensed faster in B.C., the provincial ministry of health said in a  statement .

Continue reading B.C. moves to attract foreign nurses to overcome critical staffing crisis

BC Should Be Doing More Rapid Testing, Experts Say

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the highly transmissible Omicron variant takes hold, British Columbia is one of the only provinces not making rapid antigen tests  widely available to the public.

Rapid tests can be  administered at home and measure whether someone has COVID-19 and is  likely to infect others. They return results in as little as 15 minutes.

B.C. has received three kinds of tests from  the federal government: Abbott ID Now, Abbott PanBio and BD Veritor.  None are packaged for use at home.

Continue reading BC Should Be Doing More Rapid Testing, Experts Say

Unvaccinated People Drive Up COVID Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

COVID-19 cases appear to have stabilized or decreasing in most parts of British Columbia, but more than 450,000 people who have chosen not to  be vaccinated remain at much greater risk of illness and death.

Continue reading Unvaccinated People Drive Up COVID Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths

BC Nurses Union President quits and asks Gov to reconsider October mandatory vaccinations for nurses

By Pamela Haasen, CICK 93.9 Smithers Community Radio, Local Journalism Initiative

As the fourth wave of COVID-19 continues, Intensive Care Unit doctors and nurses are sounding the alarm. They’re saying the health care system in northern B.C. is in trouble.

Continue reading BC Nurses Union President quits and asks Gov to reconsider October mandatory vaccinations for nurses

Canada’s drug policy — not drugs — is killing people at record numbers, advocates say

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s mind-boggling communities across Canada must still organize for an annual awareness day to draw public and policymakers’ attention to poisoned street drugs and an ongoing health crisis that has killed more than 21,000 people in just five years, advocates say.

Continue reading Canada’s drug policy — not drugs — is killing people at record numbers, advocates say