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Bennett warns healthcare spending not sustainable
Bill Bennett, MLA for Kootenay East, rose in the Legislature this week to speak to Bill 10 – Nurse Practitioners Statutes Amendment Act, while also taking the opportunity to address the bigger issue of healthcare sustainability in B.C.
Bennett began by addressing what benefits Bill 10 would bring to B.C.’s healthcare system by stating, “Government is amending 12 pieces of legislation so that nurse practitioners are allowed do everything within their scope of practice – these statutes were actually limiting them from doing what they are trained to do.
“I hope there will be additional positive changes in the future that increase the scope of practice for nurse practitioner so that they can take more of the burden off physicians in the system. I also know that B.C. needs more nurse practitioners.”
Bennett then drew attention to a looming challenge in our healthcare system – keeping universal public healthcare in B.C. and in Canada sustainable.
Bennett acknowledged that “every province except Alberta is increasing its accumulated debt. It is a cliché but like many clichés, is true, that it is my children and grandchildren who will have to pay this debt off. While they are trying to pay off this debt or at least keep it under control, they will also be asked to pay the costs of looking after my generation as we age and live longer and longer.
“Too many politicians are not willing to face up to the consequences of this inexorable annual growth of healthcare costs,” he said, adding, “B.C. already has earned the honour of having the best surgical outcomes and longest life expectancy with one of the lowest per capita expenditures on health. I am personally proud that in B.C. we get more from the dollars spent than most provinces, but it’s not enough.
“It is our moral duty to our children and to our grandchildren that we drop the partisan politics around this issue of increasing healthcare costs. We have a duty to actually have a rational, non partisan discussion as elected people about how the system we all love in Canada can be sustained by our children and our grandchildren.”
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