B.C.'s new short-term rental rules could impact organ transplant recipients, advocates say
B.C.'s new short-term rental rules officially came into effect this week and advocates say the new restrictions could have unintended impacts for those getting an organ transplant.
Jude Kornelsen, co-director of the Centre for Rural Health Research, says the province needs to consider accommodation options for those seeking care.
"We do need to facilitate making sure people can get to where the care is," she told CTV News Vancouver. "I think that's the issue at the heart of this."
The short-term rental rules, which came into play on May 1, restrict hosts to renting out space in their primary residence, as well as an additional unit, secondary suite or laneway home on the same property. The restrictions are meant to open up thousands of potential long-term housing units that are currently being offered year-round on apps such as Airbnb and VRBO.
But those coming to the Lower Mainland for a transplant can require several months of after care in the region and hotels are expensive.
In fact, the high cost of accommodation has led to drastic measures for some like Christina Derksen-Unrau. She needs a double lung transplant, but discovered she'd first have to save tens of thousands of dollars to live in Vancouver for three to six months after surgery at Vancouver General Hospital. She temporarily took herself off the transplant list because of that high cost, but has since put herself back on.
Now, with the new short-term rental rules, rural health-care advocates are worried it'll be another barrier for those needing care. While they say they aren't against the restrictions, advocates say they'd like to see some sort of exemption for those seeking medical treatment.
"We just want to make sure that they're not faced with the choice between life and death because they don't have money," Paul Adams, executive director for B.C. Rural Health Network, told CTV News Vancouver.
The province acknowledged that some British Columbians need to travel for transplant surgery and stay in the Lower Mainland. Even so, the province said in a statement the focus has to be getting "more units back into the long-term rental market so (British Columbians) can find an affordable place to call home."
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Isabella Zavarise and Michele Brunoro
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
2 died in plane crash near Squamish, B.C., police confirm
Two people died after a plane went down in a remote area near Squamish, B.C. on Friday, authorities have confirmed.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
After more than 100 years, Newfoundland's unknown soldier returns home
An unknown Newfoundland soldier, who fought and died on the battlefields in northeastern France during the First World War, is back home this weekend for the first time in more than a hundred years.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 starts after 4-hour rain delay with Kyle Larson in the field
The Indianapolis 500 started Sunday after a rain delay of four hours with NASCAR star Kyle Larson still at the track and in the race.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.