Close to 150,000 British Columbians went to emergency departments and left without receiving care between 2018 to 2024, according to newly released data.
The new information, obtained by the B.C. Conservative Party via a freedom of information request and released July 23, shows that almost 142,000 individuals visited ERs in the province and left before getting medical attention in 2024, an 86 percent jump in walkouts from 2018—and a 160 percent hike in walkouts in ERs on Vancouver Island during that same period.
“A lot of people still don’t have GPs [general practitioners/family doctors], and so they go to emergency for treatment, as well as waiting for specialist appointments, which sometimes can take months. And when they wait, they get sicker. So where do they go? They go to emergency,” Conservative MLA and health critic Dr. Anna Kindy said in a July 25 interview with The Epoch Times….