Whether it’s urgent care, community care or just a little love and attention, a trio of hopefuls in the May 9 provincial election all agree that Richmond’s healthcare sector needs some minor surgery, at the very least.

The long-awaited, new tower at Richmond Hospital, walk-in clinics closing due to doctor shortages and the need for community health centres in the city were all top of mind for key members of the three principal parties.

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The Green Party’s Richmond-Queensborough candidate, Michael Wolfe — a school teacher by day — is adamant the focus needs to shift to promoting healthy lifestyles in our youth, as well as building de-centralized, community-based primary care hubs to take the pressure off emergency rooms.

For the BC NDP’s Richmond South-Centre hopeful, city councillor Chak Au, investing in post-secondary education — in a bid to produce more doctors — and erecting “urgent care centres” to offer a one-stop shop, “team-based” approach are a priority.

And for the BC Liberals’ Richmond North-Centre runner, incumbent Teresa Wat, continuing to push forward the concept and business plans for the hospital’s new, north tower is at the forefront of her health agenda.

Greens promote healthy lifestyles

Asked by the News what needs to be done to improve healthcare in Richmond, Wolfe said the focus needs to stretch beyond the four-year cycle for government.

“We would create two, new ministries; one for health prevention, disease and active lifestyles. And one for mental health and education strategies that focus on youth,” he said.

“All of this feeds into early childhood education. That’s the foundation that leads to healthy lifestyles.”

And after a conversation last week with Richmond’s chief medical health officer, Meena Dawar, Wolfe insisted the shift in health focus can relate directly to his native city.

“(Dawar) said the things that make Richmond stand out (in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region) were lifestyle diseases,” he said.

“Our mental health rating, for example, was at 42 per cent (of people who rated their mental health as excellent). That was a very low rating across the (VCH) region. “Our low activity and having the lowest fruit and veggie intake in the region at 21 per cent, all takes me back to lifestyle.”

De-centralizing primary care centres and building community-based ones in places such as Steveston and Hamilton — as has happened in other B.C. communities — is another long-term solution for Richmond, according to Wolfe.

“We could have physicians, nurse practitioners and mental health professionals all in the one place. This would help relieve the pressure on hospitals.”

None of it comes cheap, however, and Wolfe said cancelling major projects, such as the Massey Tunnel replacement and the Site C Dam, would provide an initial burst of $10 billion in funding.

Taking a swipe at the incumbent BC Liberal MLAs, Wolfe said they’ve dragged their feet for 12 years on the building of a new, north tower at Richmond Hospital.

Urgent care centres needed, says NDP

Coun. Chak Au, a Richmond-based social worker in VCH’s Family and Child Counselling Department, said he’s acutely aware of the shortage of doctors in the province and locally, where, as recently as two weeks ago, a walk-in clinic in Seafair had to close for that very reason.

“In 2013, the Liberals said that they would fix the problem; but here we are in 2017, and we still have the same problem,” said Au, who said he’s also felt first-hand “healthcare underfunding” with the loss of a full-time therapist in his department in the last few years.

“But we can’t solve the problem overnight. We need to train more doctors for this; we have to invest more in post-secondary education.”

Au’s party leader, John Horgan, revealed earlier this week that the BC NDP, if elected, would build urgent care centres, with a “team-based approach to healthcare” where patients with urgent, but non, life-threatening issues can see a doctor, nurse-practitioner, pharmacist or other health professional.

Au said that Richmond would be in the market for one of these new centres, should he and his party get elected.

Funding for such centres, he said, would likely come from more taxation of the province’s top two per cent of earners. But the BC NDP has also stated that urgent care and community health centres will ultimately save significant health care dollars by keeping people out of hospitals.

As for the saga that is the hospital tower, Au said he doesn’t blame the BC Liberals’ Wat and, in fact, sympathizes with her, as she was only elected four years ago.

“We knew about it in 2005 and in 2011, it was again deemed unsafe. The provincial government has done nothing in those years,” he said.

“And in 2014, 2016 and in March of this year, Richmond city council has formally asked (our MLAs) to make this a priority.”

Hospital tower a priority, says Liberal

Talking of the tower, Wat said getting it built was almost exclusively the healthcare topic of conversation while meeting her constituents this campaign.

“They support me, but they say I have to do something about the hospital,” she said. “I’ve been telling them that we have committed $3 million to move the business plan forward (for the new tower).”

The Richmond Hospital Foundation said it’s willing to raise $40 million of the estimated $283 million needed for a new tower. It presently has $25 million.

However, asked why it has taken 12 years for the government to raise $3 million for a business plan, Wat pointed to the fact she was only elected in 2013.

“Since I became the MLA, I realized that we had to do something about the hospital. In October 2014, I got Health Minister Terry Lake to come over and see the hospital, and in June of 2016, we committed $1 million for the tower’s concept plan,” said Wat, adding that “every single region” has hospitals needing replacement.

“I’m working on this day and night to make it happen. It is very much a priority for me.”

Wat, however, couldn’t guarantee that shovels would be in the ground for the new tower before the next election in 2021.

“I’m not a medical expert and it would depend on how long it takes for the business plan to be confirmed and then everything else can get going.”

As for the shortage of doctors in Richmond forcing the closure of a walk-in clinic, Wat pointed to a “dramatic increase” in the city’s population.

“But we more than doubled the number of medical school spaces (from 128 to 288) between 2002 and 2011 and we have made a commitment to have 400 doctors graduating annually by 2025…by continuing to increase the spaces at medical schools.”

Wat couldn’t speak to where the funding for the extra spaces was going to come from.

In terms of the BC NDP’s pledge to construct urgent care centres, Wat said it sounded like a nice idea but “they have not said anything to back it up; there is no extra money for all this extra stuff. They just throw it out there and don’t really have a plan.”

Party platform highlights on healthcare