The following answers to our Health Care Questions were received from Michael Beauclair (BC Conservative Party):

1. Over the past ten years, rural B.C. communities have experienced a gradual erosion of health services and reduced accessibility to timely health care. Acute doctor shortages, scheduled closures of emergency departments, increased waitlist times, cutbacks in community nursing services, and difficulties with transportation to specialized services in regional centres are indicative of a health care system unable to meet the needs of rural patients.
If you are elected to the legislature in the 2013 provincial elections, what will you and your party do to reverse this trend and improve accessibility for rural residents?

BCCP Policy
5.4.5. Studying other health care systems world wide to look for ways to improve our own, including ways to reduce increasing wait times. 

One the questions that I ask as a tax-payer is what do Hospital Trustees and Administration do? Interior Health has become a monolithic entity that non-efficient and ” Top Heavy”  If elected their would be a new approach in Regional Health, I recognize that we live in a large-riding with smaller population-centers, there will be less administration and more people on the Frontlines,  Doctors, Nurses and Techs, Healthcare would be de-centralized , we also have to look at incentive plan to bring more doctors to Fraser-Nicola, more doctors, more accessible healthcare

2. In February 2012, Kim Carter, Provincial Ombudsperson, released Public Report No. 47, The Best of Care: Getting It Right for Seniors in British Columbia (Part 2). In her report she presents 143 Findings and makes 176 Recommendations for improving care for seniors in our province.
What steps would you and your party take to implement the recommendations in this report?

I cannot comment on these recommendations since I did not read the report, Please feel free to contact me with a summary of the findings
(SOHC will send Mr. Beauclair the summary and will post his later comments here.)

3. Provincial health authorities seem to have lost the trust of the people they serve.
What action will you and your party take to reestablish that trust, making our health authorities more accountable and more responsive to the needs of rural communities?

BCCP Policy
Optimize the delivery of health care and care of patients by:
5.4.1. Ensuring health care funding is focused on the best interests of patients and patient care, above all other interests.
5.4.2. Continuing to support the concept of a strong publicly-funded health system as the primary provider of health care services in British Columbia.
5.4.3. Ensuring that all British Columbians have access to quality care, regardless of their ability to pay.

Does not Accountability start with your Family Doctor and Local health care , we as individuals have responsibility to be honest with Doctor, Nurse, Paramedic and Technicians when it comes to our lifestyles and habits, We should also be able to see the costs of Local Delivery of Healthcare and its associated benefits (close to families, reduced travel)

4. The demand for rural doctors exceeds the supply. In competition with each other, rural communities have resorted to providing incentives such as subsidized housing, paid for by local governments, businesses, or private citizens. To be able to compete in the resulting “bidding war”, rural communities are now in a position where incentives are a requirement.
What is your party’s response to this situation?

BCCP Policy
5.4.4. Supporting the principle that the citizens of British Columbia need to have input into the type of health care system they want.
5.4.5. Studying other health care systems world wide to look for ways to improve our own, including ways to reduce increasing wait times.

5. Rural communities in British Columbia share similar health care concerns. However, individual health needs and the way in which they should be addressed vary from community to community.
As a candidate in the provincial election, what do you consider to be the most important health care issues in your constituency? And how would you address them?

The Most Important Issue facing myself as A Candidate was Locating a Doctor that I could develop real patient-doctor relationship that  best served my family and self within the Local Area, Long Wait Lines for Emergency and Lab
As Mentioned earlier , We will have to proceed and continue with an Incentive Program for Doctors in Fraser with input and investment from All levels of Government, Tax Credits, businesses and private individuals, but I will caution every community that we will all have to ask ourselves and government: what kind of service do we want and what are we willing to pay for– we do not need additional tax burdens either.
If we truly want a publicly-funded healthcare system to be maintain, will have to look at several methods in drawing Doctors to Communities especially Hinterland  and smaller communities across Fraser-Nicola. Property Tax Credits,  increased Doctor privileges may be some other incentives we should be all looking at, the question is, How much can the community afford and how much healthcare can we expect?, what do we want as a community? I admit there are no easy answers but we have to start somewhere.

6. On March 14th, the provincial government passed the Seniors Advocate Act. Although this is a positive step for senior citizens in British Columbia, the advocate position is not established as an independent office of the legislature and cannot be the effective critical watchdog that it needs to be.
If you are elected to the legislature would you support an independent seniors advocacy position with real authority to act on behalf of seniors?

Yes I would support an independent Seniors Advocacy Position with Real Authority, since the BCCP  “Ensures that our MLAs put the interest of their constituents ahead of that of their party.
Thank you for your tough questions
Michael Beauclair
BC Conservative Candidate; Fraser-Nicola