With St. Paul’s planned relocation to East Vancouver, the chance that there will be an available ambulance in the downtown core during an emergency is practically nil.

The relocation of St. Paul’s Hospital to the Main and Terminal area is an opportunity for services to be re-envisioned, according to the Bloom Group, which helps people in the Downtown Eastside and several other Vancouver neighbourhoods.

“This plan looks like a model for the future of comprehensive health care. Simply renovating the original structure with its many add-ons, however satisfying that might be to the nostalgic, would only impose a 19th-century limitation on the 21st-century health care demands of a rapidly growing Metro region.”

The District of West Vancouver is talking to the City of Vancouver about joining forces on an independent environmental assessment of the oil spill that continued to wash up on Burrard Inlet beaches this week. With quotes from Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, North Shore medical health officer.

Dr. Mark Lysyshyn is interviewed about the recent oil spill on Vancouver’s beaches and the potential health impacts.

The Sunshine Coast’s A GP for Me proposal, meant to connect locals who want doctors with general practitioners accepting patients, was recently approved and has resulted in two new services designed to help. References the GP for Me launch event taking place at Sechelt Hospital on April 23.

Editorial about the City of North Vancouver’s proposal to ban smoking within 7.5 metres of all doors, windows, air intakes, parks and trails. References VCH.

Right now, an estimated 176,000 people in British Columbia who do not have a family doctor, but wish they did. The challenge of finding someone to look after your health on a regular basis is more than frustrating, and it can also affect your health. Column by VCH Medical Health Officer Dr. Paul Martiquet.

An addictions expert at UBC and Providence Health Care is renewing the argument for prescribing heroin to addicts who have tried and failed to kick their habits. Dr. Martin Schechter says there is a small subset of heroin addicts who have tried to quit but cannot succeed using traditional methods such as detox programs or methadone treatment.

BC residents are waiting longer than most Canadians for hip and knee replacements and cataract surgeries, bucking a national trend of decreasing or consistent waiting times for these procedures, according to a national report.