Federal funding is on the way to help the provinces deal with health care backlogs brought on by the pandemic.
In British Columbia alone, tens of thousands of surgeries were cancelled or postponed since Covid’s arrival.
In addition to shifting staff to deal with Covid patients, staffing levels have also been hit hard by illness and pandemic mandates, with many struggling to return to pre-pandemic service levels.
Now, Ottawa is sending another $2 billion to the provinces via the Canada Health Transfer to help offset the effects of the pandemic.
It’s a top-up to the $4 billion transferred last year for the same reason, and comes as provincial governments continue to lobby for a permanent increase.
In BC, staffing issues and funding at health care facilities have been an issue for significantly longer than the pandemic.
Last month, representatives from BC’s NDP called for a federal contribution increase from the current 22 percent to 35 percent.
While Ottawa says they are open to a permanent Health Transfer increase, they did not specify by how much.
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