Citizens for Quality Health Care (CQHC) welcomes Friday's announcement that the Province has approved a proposal to build new hospitals in Campbell River and the Comox Valley.In November 2008, CQHC delivered a petition to the legislature signed by over 19,000 people. That petition called for the legislature to ensure fully functioning acute-care hospitals in both communities, that our hospitals remain publicly funded and that care be publicly delivered.Although the recent announcement was short on details, moreinformation is available on the Vancouver Island Health Authority website. CQHC encourages everyone to review the North Island Hospitals Project at www.viha.ca/about_viha/building_for_health/nihp.htm.According to the Frequently Asked Questions document on thatsite, the new hospitals will be privately built and operated. Althoughthere has been no discussion about this with the citizens of the North Island, this is presented as a fait accompli. CQHC remains committed to the position that there are manycompelling reasons to ensure that these new hospitals are not P3s (public-private partnership).This stand is based first on the principle that health carein Canada must continue to be publicly funded and publicly delivered, and secondly on the wealth of experience of P3s in the U.K., Canada and elsewhere that prove that P3s result inexcessive cost, deterioration of care and loss of control of decision-making.As we advance to the next stage, CQHC promises that it will work closely with groups and individuals throughout the North Island:鈥� To ensure that the promise that both hospitals provide all the services to their communities that currently exist is fulfilled;鈥� To ensure that everything from design to operation creates local jobs;鈥� To ensure that the North Islands Hospital Project contributes to the strengthening of public health care.To contact Citizens For Quality Health Care, phone 250-338-4067 in the Comox Valley and 250-287-3096 in Campbell River.鈥� Citizens for Quality Health Care
