BCCFP Advocacy: Your Voice in the B.C. Snap Election

As B.C. heads into a provincial election, health care remains a top priority for British Columbians. Family medicine is the foundation of our health care system, and the BC College of Family Physicians has continued to advocate on behalf of family physicians across the province, ensuring your voices are heard at a moment when the election of a new government can significantly shape the future of primary care.

When the snap election was first called, we asked you, our members, about your priorities and the questions you want to put to candidates in this election. The message we heard was clear: family medicine must be made sustainable.

Informed by the survey results, we posed the following questions to parties:

• How will you make family practice in BC sustainable enough to retain and support the family doctors we already have including rising overhead, after-hours call, compensation, and support for rural communities?
• How will you ensure every British Columbian has both an attachment to a family doctor and timely, continuous access to care, and what measures will you use to show it’s working?
• As team-based care expands, how will you fund and structure it so that family physicians remain central to patient care, including support for allied health providers, and what measures will show it’s cost effective?
• Administrative burden takes time away from patient care. What will you do to cut red tape, paperwork, and outdated systems like faxing so family physicians can see more patients and reduce wait times?
• How will you improve timely access to imaging and laboratory services so family doctors can make decisions quickly and avoid unnecessary delays?
• Will you commit to ending closures of rural and remote emergency rooms in the province? These are typically staffed by family doctors who are struggling to overcome service gaps while serving patients in a timely manner.

Through our advocacy, we brought family physicians' perspectives to the public, with media coverage reaching thousands of British Columbians. BCCFP Board Member, Dr. Romina Moradi, highlighted the need for digital health interoperability, investment in family physician-led team-based care, and support for rural and remote communities.

view CTV interview here

view CBC interview here

We want to ensure that the realities of family medicine are understood by candidates in this election, reflected in the platforms, and translated into changes that make a difference in your practice. As BC heads to the polls on October 24th, we will continue to advocate for you, so that family physicians are supported to do what they do best, providing care for British Columbians across the province.