Drastic health cuts coming in Vancouver: B.C. NDP

The B.C. New Democrats say a document leaked to them reveals the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority plans to cut more than 6,000 surgeries and close a number of emergency rooms to slash costs.

The authority plans to reduce neurosurgeries, vascular disease treatments, joint replacements and 11 other specialized areas, according to B.C. NDP health critic Adrian Dix.

"We're certainly not talking about nose jobs and tummy tucks; we're talking about medically necessary elective surgery," Dix told a Vancouver news conference Monday.

"No one is suggesting that if someone comes into emergency, they're going to allow them to die, because that would be absurd and illegal, but what we are saying is that the core services provided by the health authority are being cut," said Dix.

Under the proposal, Coastal Health would also close nearly a quarter of its operating rooms from September through March 2010 and eliminate 112 full-time jobs, according to Dix.

On July 27, Dix made similar claims, saying documents leaked to his party suggested the province was considering major reductions to the Fraser Health Authority, east of Vancouver, because of a $160-million budget shortfall.

Fraser Health CEO Dr. Nigel Murray later said the papers quoted by Dix were only planning documents, and no decisions had been made on any suggested cuts to services, hospital beds, operating rooms or programs.