Health Care – Do You Care ???

(   ) We are all Members:  We are told that all Gabriola residents over 19 years of age, who support the objectives of improving health care on Gabriola Island are members of GHCS & GHCF. All members are required to uphold their constitution and abide by the bylaws.  Membership fees can be assessed to cover costs for the clinic. Did you consent to this?

(   ) The Community Owns the Clinic:  Whose name is on the line when problems arise, such as financing shortages, liability issues, public health concerns, equipment failures, building inspection difficulties, etc.? Are all members to be held responsible?  

(   ) Business & Financial Plan:  When will we, the owners of the clinic, see the business plan and proposed financial plan for building and running the clinic? All we have heard to date are vague statements about “costs will be covered” but no projected “Income & Expense” statement has ever been made public. What has been budgeted for payment of property taxes, insurance costs, ongoing maintenance costs, equipment certification and repair, snow removal, water treatment, security system, parking lot upkeep, landscaping, signage, waste removal, common utilities, etc.?

(   ) Why Not Rent Instead of Building:  The Health Care Foundation states it believes “a community built, owned and controlled clinic allows better control over costs and operation over the long term than if the clinic were privately owned.” Whether you own or rent a property, you are still responsible, either directly or via your landlord, for payment of property taxes, insurance fees, and maintenance costs. Just because the community or society owns the clinic does not exempt them from these basic and real costs.

(   ) Why do we need a larger clinic?  The GHCS/GHCF are building a clinic to host three full time physicians, but no doctor has yet stepped up to the plate to become the third on-call clinic physician, despite many months of advertising. Why would we build for someone who does not exist.  Most medical offices hosting three physicians work out of a space of approximately 1500 -1800 square feet.  Having a clinic of 4,300 sq. ft. will make this one of the largest and most prestigious medical clinics in British Columbia.

(   ) Is Gabriola Likely Get a Third Physician to Join the Clinic:   It is claimed that the construction of a new facility will attract a third physician to the island, who would be willing to provide on-call services.  Gabriola Island has an official population of 4050 residents, and Ministry of Health statistics indicate that a practicing physician needs a patient base of at least 1200 patients to survive financially.  Medical Services Plan statistics show that approximately 50% of Gabriola residents seek their health care off island, indicating that any new physician, potentially interested in locating to Gabriola, and young enough to be willing to provide on call services, would not be able to financially support themselves. That means the physicians will not come, regardless of the facility. 

(   ) Physicians:  “The physicians will pay the rent”, is what we are told. What written contract has been signed with these physicians? Do they guarantee to stay and pay rent for five years, or can they leave whenever they want? Could the departure of one of the physicians force the clinic into bankruptcy?

(   ) Why an Urgent Care Treatment Room to Handle Multiple Casualties?  When was the last time we actually experienced such an incident on Gabriola and, even if we did, would we have sufficient staff and medical supplies, such as units of suitable blood, to accommodate such an event?  Not likely.

(   ) Why an Office for a Nurse Practitioner?  Gabriola does not have a Nurse Practitioner, nor are we likely to have one in the foreseeable future.  A proposal was presented to VIHA in 2008 to acquire the services of a Nurse Practitioner for Gabriola Island and VIHA turned it down, primarily because the Twin Beaches clinic physicians and the GHCS refused to support the proposal.

(   ) Fundraising: What percentage of the funds raised through community donations will be used to build and equip private offices for the physicians? How much will be left over to build and equip an urgent treatment room for the community? 

(   ) VIHA Funding: What contractual commitments for funding has Vancouver Island Health Authority signed with the Gabriola Health Care Society?  Currently VIHA helps pay for supplies for sutures and wound care in the Urgent Treatment Room. VIHA representatives state there will be no change in the funding for Gabriola once the clinic is built, yet the GHCS and GHCF claim VIHA will pay rent for office space. Who do we believe?

(   ) Staffing & Equipment: What staffing & equipment have actually been contracted for the urgent treatment room? If it is not staffed and equipped on a full time, twenty-four hour basis, it is not viable.

(   ) Zoning:  Why are we considering rezoning a parcel of forestry land to create more commercial and institutional land when Gabriola already has an excess of vacant commercial and institutional properties? Why do we trust the rezoning process to an applicant who refuses to sign a legal and binding agreement to assure the clinic ownership will be transferred to the community?

(   ) Contingency Plan: What contingency plans do the GHCS & GHCF have in place in the event they are unable to attract and retain three full time physicians?  What happens if they do not receive sufficient funds to build or complete the clinic?  This is a multimillion dollar undertaking, and not one on which we can just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Are you concerned? 

If so, please check the issues that concern you and sign here

 _____________________________________________

either print out form and mail to

Tony Gibson, 1374 Harrison Way, Gabriola, B. C., V0R 1X3

OR

cut and paste into an email and send to shenam@shaw.ca

These questions will be presented to the GHCS/GHCF

formally requesting a public response

Please reply by March 20, 2011

Thank you