Minimum nurse-patient ratios established at most B.C. hospitals, says health minister

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix, left, speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., as Federal Health Minister Mark Holland listens, on July 23, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says minimum nurse-to-patient ratios meant to improve care and strengthen the health-care system have now been established for most hospital settings.

He says the nurse-to-patient ratios have been determined for more hospital settings, including emergency departments, maternity units and operating rooms.

Dix says the hospital program is part of a four-year government plan announced last March, with a target of hiring more than 8,000 nurses.

He says the nurse-to-patient ratios, the first of their kind in Canada, were reached with the B.C. Nurses Union, and set emergency department figures at one nurse for every three patients in general emergency and one nurse for every patient in trauma incidents.

The nurse-ratio numbers come as the government announced earlier this week about 248,000 people have connected with a family doctor or nurse practitioner through the province's Health Connect online registry.

But it also comes as emergency room physicians at Surrey Memorial Hospital say in a letter sent to the president of the Fraser Health Authority that conditions there continue to deteriorate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.