[LabComm] Deputy Minister's resignation further proof of health care crisis

[BC NDP Newswire]

Deputy Minister's resignation further proof of health care crisis

James calls on Campbell to release plan for health care reoganization

The abrupt resignation of the Deputy Health Minister is further proof that health care is in crisis under Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals, Opposition Leader Carole James says.

And the surprise resignation raises more questions than it answers, said James.

Dr. Penny Ballem -- Campbell's top health advisor -- suddenly quit her post Thursday without notice or a transition period.

Ballem's letter of resignation to Premier Gordon Campbell provided strong hints that health policy is being written to serve the political needs of the BC Liberal party, rather than the needs of patients.

In her letter, Ballem stated that the Premier's plans for health care were "unsound."

"Given Ms. Ballem's very explicit commitment to public health care and the principle of universal access to care, her sudden departure raises serious questions about Gordon Campbell's plans for the public health system in B.C.," said James.

"The sudden departure of one of the few people in the Campbell government with any credibility on public health care is a huge blow for the Premier who has made health care one of his top priorities," James said.

Ballem was the architect of much of the restructuring of British Columbia's health care system. But in an interview in B.C. Business Magazine in 2003, she affirmed a commitment to public health care over the U.S.-style, for-profit system quietly favoured by many in the Campbell government.

"The fact that Ms. Ballem felt she had to resign suggests the government is embarking on a serious shift away from the public health care system she desired," James added. "That worries me, and it should worry all British Columbians."

James says the public has a right to know Campbell's plans for reorganization.

"In the wake of Penny Ballem's sudden departure from the Campbell government, and in light of her opinion that the Premier's plan for health care is unsound, Mr. Campbell should immediately let the public know what those plans are," said James.

To read the rest of the story, <a href="http://nid-16164.newsdetail.bcndp.ca/">click here.</a>

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