The BC Conservative party says it will invest in a new MRI machine for Port Moody’s Eagle Ridge Hospital, the BC Greens support funding for such an acquisition while the BC NDP says it “will continue to strengthen health care.”
The three parties battling for seats in the BC Legislature in Saturday’s, Oct. 19, provincial election were responding to a challenge from the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation in an open letter to local candidates.
The foundation said while hospitals in Burnaby and Langley that serve a similar-sized population to the Tri-Cities are already equipped with MRI machines, and even smaller hospitals in Maple Ridge and White Rock have the facilities, patients at Eagle Ridge Hospital have to travel outside the community for MRIs.
“This disparity significantly affects the timely diagnosis and treatment of patients within our service area, necessitating slow transfers to other facilities and impact on their service levels,” said the letter.
“We believe this investment is crucial to meet the imaging diagnosis needs of our hospital and community.”
The foundation said it wants to see a commitment to fund an MRI machine for Eagle Ridge Hospital within the next two years.
In responses published on the hospital foundation’s website, the BC Conservatives said funding for an MRI machine is included in the highlights of its new capital investments while the BC Greens said it supports such funding.
The BC NDP's reply was more circumspect, pointing out its support for construction of a new emergency department at Eagle Ridge as well as other health care facilities across the province.
It also said it’s helped add 18 more MRI machines around British Columbia while expanding their hours of operation. That’s helped cut wait time for hip and knee replacements, said the reply.
But, “we know we have much more to do to keep your families and communities healthy,” added the reply before going on to attack the BC Conservative party’s record on healthcare.
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