More than three years ago, the provincial government took the dramatic step of ordering a full-scale review of Fraser Health.
The health authority was failing to meet its budgets, and care was suffering across the region’s hospitals.
You can read that report here.
Today, some things have improved, including the health authority’s bottom line.
But many things are even worse today than they were in 2013.
A strategic plan offered several ideas for how the health authority could ease hospital congestion and improve care.
And yet publicly available numbers show that the region’s ERs, and Abbotsford’s in particular, are as crowded as ever.
Equally as worrying, the health authority was urged to push resources towards residential and community care, but the number of beds has struggled to keep up with the region’s ever-increasing senior population.
For the past two years, Fraser Health has tried a series of improvements and tweaks aimed at maximizing efficiency
They don’t seem to be working.
Perhaps because the province was behind the last strategic plan, the B.C. government appears to be unwilling to suggest the situation at Abbotsford Regional Hospital isn’t getting better. But both the numbers, and the situation on the ground, speak volumes.
Health care costs are already dramatically increasing; making room in the region’s hospitals would likely cost taxpayers billions more.
But if the current level of service is deemed unacceptable, it might be time for a new plan.