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July 1, 1992 60 pages Office, Editorial 985-2131 Display Advertising 960-0511 Classifieds 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337

Charge new Bill 71 will force
rationing of medical services

APPROXIMATELY 150 NORTH Shore doctors held an
‘“‘emergency’’ meeting Tuesday morning at Lions Gate
Hospital as doctors elsewhere in the province closed office
doors to protest a provincial government move to impose a

et,

See eaters ss

NEWS photo Paul MeGrath

Gastown Grand Prix

NORTH VANCOUVER'S Alex Stieda rounds a bend during the Canadian Tire Gastown Grand
Prix Sunday. Stieda finished eighth in Sunday's race with a time of 1:22:14. He was 16th in
the Tour de White Rock held the day before. He places sixth overall in the national series of
races. Among the 300 cyclists taking part in the 65-km Gastown race were more than 12 par-
ticipants from the North Shore. The local cyclists raced in the professional and amateur

categories.

cap on doctor’s salaries.

Said North Vancouver general
surgeon Dr. Anthony Chan, the
North Shore representative of the
British Columbia Medical
Association (BCMA) Local Action
Committee, ‘‘There is great anger
out there.””

Of a total $1.48 billion Medical
Services Plan budget, the pay-out
for physicians’ services is set at
$1.27 billion this ye: Phat leaves
a $60 million shortage, according
to doctors.

Chan says the Bill 7! plan to
cap docto! 2 i
to ration hi
ple, recently he said he wouldn’t
Operate on a patient who required
bypass surgery to a lez because

said Chan, *‘) am very,
very confused. On the one hand I
am told to stay within budget. I'm
also told that J am not allowed to
ration my services. How can I
resolve those two opposite
messages?"

Health Minister Elizabeth Cull
dismissed Chan’s statement as an
example of scare tacti

Said Cull, Monday, *‘The doc-

y telling you that some

ive has been given to them

to ration services, which is just

not true. What we have done is

provide a bu that includes a

4.7% in ¢ over fast year which

covers a population growth and
inflation.

“—f you state that very simply,
it means that everyone in B.C.,
including the new residents who
came in last year, snould be able
to visit their doctor as often as
they did a year ago. There is no
reduction in services if everyone
carries on as they do. What we
have asked doctors to do is to
work with us to control the in-
crease in «utilization — control the
increase in the number of times
people visit their doctors,’’ she
added.

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By Michael Becker
News Reporter

Meanwhile North Shore doctors
meeting Tuesday voted against
implementing any demonstration
or job action locally. Said Chan,
“They felt this only inconvenienc-
ed the public. They unanimously
reject Bill 71 because it forces the
rationing of services by a grossly
inadequate budget and it allows
government intrusion to control
the ways the profession practices
medicine.”*

North Shore doctors plan to
mount a public information cam-
paign to explain how Bill 71 will
affect them. Doctors will be h
- ing out leaflets through their o
fices and placing ads.

On July 16 a public forum on
health-care issues will be held 7
p.m. at the Centennial Theatre in
North Vancouver. The forum is
co-sponsored by North Shore
Health and Lions Gate Hospital.
Chan said the session will provide
an opportunity for the public to
talk to government and medical
representatives.

Last-ditch negotiations over Bill
71 between BCMA and provincial
government representatives broke
down on the weekend.

Said Cull, “‘The proposals I
received over the weekend fro
the BCMA are asking us to write
a blank cheque to doctors in terms
of their income.

“We're in a pretty difficult
economic situation here in B.C.
and it’s even worse than the rest
of Canada. We're asking everyone
lo take a piece of the burden by
being more efficient and by setting
our priorities better, and | don’t
think that the doctors can be left
out of this. They're asking for a
guarantee that economic decisions
won't impact on their incomes —
well, 1 think we'd all like that, but
it’s not real life,"’ she said.

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