Category Archives: Health

Health, Politics

Why a Top BC Heart Surgeon Quit for Politics

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi was more frustrated than usual. The pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon and former chief of cardiac surgery at BC  Children’s Hospital had just spent a shift in the midst of an  unrelenting respiratory illness season. In between caring for his most  urgent patients, he’d had to inform some parents their children’s  non-emergency surgeries were being postponed yet again.

Before driving home that  night of Nov. 14, Gandhi fired off a tweet to his few dozen followers at  the time, calling for mask-wearing as a “mandatory inconvenience”  during such a crisis. 

The tweet blew up,  gathering more than 11,500 likes to date. It also added to the ire from  Gandhi’s employer, the Provincial Health Services Authority, for his  comments to media outside the official channels. 

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Health

Grant awarded to Kuu-us Crisis Line Society, which serves Indigenous communities across B.C.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Port Alberni, BC – Kuu-us Crisis Line Society is one of 22 Indigenous-led non-profits awarded $216, 000 over the course of three years from a provincial program.

Cindy McAnerin, associate director at Kuu-us Crisis Line Society, said a need that they have is to upgrade their vehicles for outreach.

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Health

B.C.’s Toxic Drug Crisis Brings Tragedy and Compassionate Response from Quadra Mom

Originally published on the Bird’s Eye

It’s hard to imagine anything more devastating than the loss of a beloved child. The dreams left unrealized, the promise unfulfilled, the hopes obliterated. Last week B.C.’s Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe announced there were 2,272 suspected drug toxicity deaths in the province in 2022. At least one of those was a child of Quadra.

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Health, Politics

NDP leader’s health-care concerns front and centre during Vancouver Island tour

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hot off a week-long Vancouver Island tour on the state of health care, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says protecting Canada’s public health system is a top priority in the coming year.

As Parliament returned Monday, Singh said he expects to have a one-on-one conversation with Justin Trudeau to raise concerns about the threat of privatization and the acute lack of health-care workers that are hobbling communities and hospitals across the country.

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Health

B.C. health minister announces $30 million to address health-care crisis in North Island

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced a $30-million infusion to tackle the health-care crisis in North Island communities.

The money, a mix of one-time capital investments and operating funding, will drive a range of measures to immediately stabilize health-care services across the region and in the communities of Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Alert Bay, Dix said Friday.

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