The plan has $586 million for treatment and recovery beds — 190 new treatment beds are promised in the budget.
B.C. will invest $6.4 billion in new health-care spending over the next three years, including a $1 billion boost in mental health and addictions funding and a first-in-Canada free prescription contraception program, as part of the provincial budget released Tuesday.
“Mental health is health,” said Finance Minister Katrine Conroy. “That’s why our government made the largest investment in mental health and addictions services in B.C. history.” The mental health and addictions boost includes includes $867 million in operating funding and about $170 million in capital investments. The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions currently has a budget of $10 million. The plan includes $586 million for treatment and recovery beds — 190 new treatment beds are promised in the budget — throughout B.C. It also includes expansion of the model of complex mental-health and substance-use care at the 105-bed Red Fish Healing Centre in Coquitlam — on the site of the old Riverview Hospital — to other regions of the province. Those locations have yet to be decided. “The ministry is working on that as we speak,” said Conroy. Conroy said the subsidized daily user fees on public beds will remain except on the 190 new beds to be created. There was no timeline provided for the provision of those beds. The B.C. Liberals had proposed a $1.5-billion plan for mental health and addictions that included no-cost treatment beds and government paying for private beds when there’s a wait list for public beds. Johnny Morris, CEO of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, called the new mental-health funding “historic.” “Ideally there would be no fee to access any kind of mental-health care, but today is a first step.” There are currently about 3,000 substance use beds in the province. Morris said he hopes the 190 new beds will be implemented quickly. The toxic drug crisis kills six people a day in B.C. Another $184 million of the $1 billion in new mental health and addicitons funding will go toward enhanced prevention and intervention services for children and youth, safe drug alternatives to the toxic street supply, and expansion of the two Car programs, which match police and health-care workers and civilian-led Peer Assisted Car Teams , and a plan for culturally sensitive PACTs led by Indigenous people. The B.C. Green Party had proposed that mental-health counselling through psychologists be covered under the Medical Services Plan, but that’s not in the budget, Conroy said. The $6.4 billion in new health-care funding over three years includes $2.2 billion in contingencies, which include pandemic funding. The Health Ministry budget will increase from $28.7 billion in 2023-24 to $29.9 billion in 2024-25 and $30.7 billion in 2025-26. The health-care budget includes nearly $1 billion to recruit, train and retain workers; a new primary-care compensation model announced last year; and free prescription contraception starting April 1. A prescription from a doctor or nurse practitioner will be needed for contraceptives until the spring, when the province hopes the same prescriptions could be written by pharmacists. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, who six years ago with five other people formed Access B.C. to fight for free contraception in the province, called B.C. a “beacon of hope for reproductive justice.” Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Ontario are working toward taking the same step, but B.C. is the first so far, said Phelps Bondaroff. By preventing abortions and unwanted pregnancies, the program will lead to better health outcomes for mothers and infants, more equity in the health-care system, and lower health-care costs, he said. The health-care budget also contains $270 million over the next three years towards the $440 million in cancer care announced Friday. “We’re focused on improving access to screening, early detection, diagnosis and treatment,” said Conroy. “Nobody should be stuck waiting for a test result or urgently needed treatment.” The province has signed contracts with the Doctors of B.C., the Resident Doctors Association of B.C., the Health Sciences Professional Bargaining Association, and the Facilities Bargaining Association, which includes nine unions, including the Hospital Employees Union. A tentative agreement with the Community Health Bargaining Association is expected to be ratified this week, while the province remains in negotiations with the B.C. Nurses’ Union. Compensation for those groups is not yet finalized but will be included in the 2023 budget. BCNU president Aman Grewal said while the union applauds the significant investment in mental-health and addictions spending, she didn’t see the same recognition for supporting the mental health and well being of nurses or specific dollars earmarked for retaining nurses. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie said she was disappointed there seemed to be nothing in the budget for low-income seniors, though she’s hopeful that when the budget rolls out, there will be some relief in rent subsidies from the Housing Ministry. A tentative agreement with the federal government for increased health transfers is not included in the budget.>>>To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: letters@timescolonist.com
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
What the 2023 B.C. budget means for you: 6 things to knowHere are key take\u002Daways from B.C.\u0027s 2023 budget, including a renters credit, expanded mental health treatment, and a hike in carbon taxes.
Read more »
Budget 2023: Free contraception, rent credit some of B.C.'s top promisesFree contraception, increased funding for health care, and a renters tax credit are some of B.C.'s top promises in the 2023 budget.
Read more »
‘Quite remarkable’: B.C. commits close to $1 billion for mental health, addictions - Terrace Standard‘Quite remarkable’: B.C. commits close to $1 billion for mental health, addictions
Read more »
Alberta Budget 2023: UCP bumps health funding by nearly $1 billionThe United Conservative government is touting a “record\u002Dhigh health budget” with plans to pump nearly $1 billion into Alberta’s health system in their 2023 fiscal plan.
Read more »
B.C. budget: Province becomes first in Canada to offer free prescription contraception | Globalnews.caThe B.C. budget revealed a measure to cover prescription birth control products, copper IUDs and Plan B emergency contraceptives starting April 1, 2023.
Read more »
Alberta Budget 2023: Alberta boosts health funding by nearly $1 billionThe United Conservative government is touting a “record\u002Dhigh health budget” with plans to pump nearly $1 billion into Alberta’s health system in their 2023 fiscal plan.
Read more »