President of the BC Nurses Union says the provincial budget fails to address serious resource shortages that plague the province's health care system.
Gayle Duteil says although she's pleased to see infrastructure investments being made, nurses are needed to staff those new buildings.
“Over the holiday season and into January, Kelowna emergency department saw its highest numbers yet- on boxing day seeing over 320 patients in one day,” she says “so again it’s great to have the bricks and mortar of a health care system but we got to have the staff in place”
She also says the budget doesn't meet the critical need for investments in seniors' care, especially as the population ages and grows.
“We have to be ready for that,” she said “the demographics were clearly outlined in this budget. The population is growing in British Columbia and the population is growing in the Interior and Kelowna area as well and it’s growing with a greying population so that leaves us with some challenges for sure”
Duteil says seniors vote and with an election looming she's surprised the government didn't allocate more funding for seniors care.