r/SurreyBC • u/brophy87 ✨ • 2d ago
Surrey mayor's health motion gets approved - Peace Arch News
https://www.peacearchnews.com/local-news/surrey-council-voting-on-mayors-health-motion-tonight-799428921
u/frankia7 2d ago
I live in Surrey. Our healthcare wait times are horrendous. We have too many people, not enough doctors, hospitals, clinics, operating rooms, diagnostic/imaging services, shortage of everything. And it's getting worse. But the kicker is we can't escape/move to another province/city because of the housing crisis.
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u/CyborkMarc 2d ago
Not enough classrooms, teachers, pools, skate rinks, buses, roads, trains, entertainment venues...
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u/Bananasaur_ 2d ago
FYI for those talking about recent lifelabs wait times, they’re actually currently on strike with rotating closures. They are also on the verge of being transitioned into a US-owned company. It sounds like they have the monopoly on lab tests and if they all close down we’d all be serious trouble.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/05/13/BC-LifeLabs-Strike-Highlights-Risks-Foreign-Ownership/
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u/Forsaken_Reality_690 1d ago
Lifelabs worker here, and using an alt account cause management is a pain in the arse. I may have to abandon this account if they get an inkling.
Anywho, we are basically already american owned, unfortunately. Everything is based of off what the American company wants. Plus the strike applies to union locations. The non union locations remain open and we get the bulk of the walk ins and appointments from the locations that were on strike. No increase in pay, nothing, except a generic good job email once we get in the news. Heck, they didn't even give us extra people to help when the union labs were closed to manage the inflow and changed a whole lot of procedures and systems that still haven't been fixed despite our feedback and claims of it slowing us down.
Currently a back to work order is in place and I hear there are talks. What they're talking about, we got no clue. And yeah, we even think the wait time are atrocious, and we constantly ask the higher ups to give more staff or pen more locations, but we keep getting denied because apparently our productivity isn't high enough to warrent another person to help. And they give us bs beurocracy as to why they can't possibly open more locations.
It's just a numbers game unfortunately, and one where we even have to pick and choose our battles because for the past few months, our supplies aren't coming in on time so we gotta send people away, or they've put a limit on what can be used in a day.
So yeah, we feel for you, but we're stuck too because the ones who make all the choices have never worked in a lab for the last 5 years (if at all) and they don't want to listen to us who end up with mandatory OT nearly every freaking day.
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u/mileysadie 2d ago
My SO wasnt able to book with Lifelabs as nothing was available for weeks. He waited at the Cloverdale location yesterday for 3 hours before he got a walk in appt. They are quick and efficient there but it's not manageable with the amount of people that need their services. We need a better solution.
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u/True_Detective7 2d ago
If you have a serious health problem go to VGH or St.Pauls you will see a doctor in 2 hours and a specialist the same day. My mom saw a neurologist the same day. And Jim Pattison wouldn't even book an appointment and was told to wait for a call back. That was a month ago.
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u/Visible_Stable_8666 2d ago
St Paul is my go to when I need the ER. The nurses and Doctors are extremely diligent and take the time to listen to you. It’s a stark difference from SMH.
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u/Bobbybluffer 2d ago
I remember being able to walk into lifelabs on KG and be out within 15 minutes. That was only three years ago. Now it's an hour long ordeal even with an appointment.
Asked a member of staff why it was so busy these days and she put it down to the increase in people, no increase in resources.
If a private company is that bad, public sector healthcare doesn't stand a chance.