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P3 for hospital gets another airing aaiairing

The long simmering battle against using a public-private partnership to build Campbell River’s new hospital will be back on the front burner

The long simmering battle against using a public-private partnership (P3) to finance, build and operate Campbell River’s new hospital will be back on the front burner next week when a trio of health care activists ratchet up the issue at a town hall meeting here.

The meeting Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Labour Hall on 14th Avenue will feature: Dr. Vanessa Brcic, who was recently front and centre protesting extra billing outside the Cambie Surgical Centre in Vancouver; Stephen Elliott-Buckley , a healthcare policy researcher with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Hospital Employees Union and Lois Jarvis, a Campbell River member of Citizens For Quality Health Care (CQHC).

Jarvis says: “Most people don’t know that P3s are not the same for building a hospital as they are for building a bridge.

“We are concerned about hospital services, such as housekeeping and dietary services, being turned over to private companies.”

Jarvis also says she does not want to see “public money become profits for private consortiums often outside the country.”

NIHP’s Grant Hollett has  confirmed that VIHA is planning to construct, maintain and operate both the Campbell River and Comox hospitals through a P3 process.