People needing surgery at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) will have increased access to care as the provincial government has approved the business plan for the second phase of expansion, adding 13 new operating rooms (ORs) and 39 new perioperative patient bays at the facility.

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, has issued the following statement in recognition of National Nursing Week, May 9-15, and National Nursing Day, May 12, 2022:

Thousands of people in B.C. will benefit from BC PharmaCare’s new and expanded coverage of medications for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, severe hypoglycemia, migraines, the treatment of low white blood cell levels, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, and birth control.

Effective May 1, 2022, Medical Services Plan (MSP) policy will be updated so individuals who remain in B.C. with maintained status will have access to temporary MSP coverage until a decision is made by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on their application for extension.

People living on Vancouver Island will benefit from an additional 2,300 surgeries and 2,300 endoscopies per year, as Island Health assumes the leases and buys assets from two private surgical centres.

People in health-care facilities in the Lower Mainland are benefiting from stable, consistent and supportive patient care as more support service workers, who were previously contracted out, return as Fraser Health employees.

The new Stuart Lake Hospital is a step closer in the region as a design-build agreement has been signed with the project’s preferred proponent, Graham Design Builders LP, so construction can begin.