B.C. Premier David Eby is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday about housing and health care in Surrey.
This comes one day after a group of emergency physicians at Surrey Memorial Hospital sent a letter to Fraser Health CEO Victoria Lee saying deteriorating conditions at the ER are leading to substandard care for patients.
The doctors said emergency department visits have gone up by 30 per cent over the past four years while the size of the department remains unchanged.
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They also said the rate of patients leaving the ER without being seen has tripled since 2020-21.
“Yes there’s population growth but there’s also recruitment and retention of talent and that’s really important to recognize,” Dr. Claudine Storness-Bliss, an ob-gyn at Surrey Memorial Hospital, told Global News.
“That’s been a particular problem in Surrey because we see such a high acuity of cases, meaning complex sick people who really need help.”
Fraser Health told Global News it is reviewing the letter and that it understands the seriousness of the concerns.
It said it will be responding directly to the physicians involved.
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