BCs government is moving closer to build the provinces first private hospital - the new Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre. And the plan puts the province on a collision course with the federal Liberal government, says HEU.
The government agency managing the privatization of the new Abbotsford hospital quietly posted a bulletin on its web site in late July confirming that Access Health Abbotsford, the only private consortium to submit a bid on the project, had been chosen as the preferred proponent.
In February, HEU released a commissioned study showing that cost estimates on the Abbotsford privatization project had skyrocketed over the last two years up 94 per cent to $1.4 billion from $720 million. It also found that the 33-year contract failed to demonstrate value for money from the taxpayers perspective and that there was little assurance the public interest was being protected.
This province is a case study in creeping privatization, said HEU spokesperson Chris Allnutt. The Campbell Liberals are privatizing critical hospital support services, seniors care, publicly-insured day surgeries and elements of the Medical Services Plan and Pharmacare.
Allnutt said Premier Campbell is preparing to saddle British Columbians with the cost of a private hospital for a generation.