The Issue
An island of Haves and Have-nots:
Missing or incomplete services in Nanaimo
Pediatric Psychiatry Critical Care HAU General Internal Medicine Cardiology Gastroenterology Oncology Infectious Disease Hematology Palliative Care Endocrinology/Pediatric Endocrinology Neurology General Pediatrics Geriatrics Wound Care Vascular Surgery Interventional Radiology Stroke Care Trauma
Our population is one of the fastest-growing and fastest-aging in Canada.
- 460,000 (vs 445,000 in South Island)
- The greater Nanaimo population is expected to grow by 13.4% to 134,504 by 2028
- Central Island has the oldest population in Canada, driving high acute care demands
- 80% of the Island’s First Nations are in the NRGH catchment area
Our healthcare system is unprepared.
- NRGH is the busiest ERs on the island
- We are regularly treating over 400 inpatients in a 346 bed facility
- 1 on-call Internist for a 400+ patients hospital
- 2 Cardiologists at NRGH vs. 22 in Victoria
- 2 Cath Labs in Victoria vs. 0 in North/Central Island
- Largest population over 400,000 without a Catheterization lab in Canada
- Patients with heart disease can’t get access to the care they need and many suffer poorer outcomes, sometimes fatal.
We're the forgotten half.
Number of specialists in these areas | Nanaimo & Central Island/North Island | Greater Victoria |
Hospital Size | 346 (400+ inpatient beds regularly) | RJH 500 / VGH 344 |
Cardiologists | 2 | 22 |
Catheterization Lab | 0 | 2 |
Medical Oncologists | 0 | 30+ |
Gastrointesinal | 3 | 16 |
Internal Medicine | 10 | 26 |
Interventional Radiology | 0 | 5 |
Neurology | 3 | 15 |
Rehabilitation Medicine | 6 | 10 |
Thoracic Surgery | 0 | 4 |
Vascular Surgery | 0 | 7 |
Adult Psychiatrists | 18 | 80 |
Paediatric Psychiatrists | 1 | 13 |
Our healthcare system is not meeting the appropriate standards for heart attack or cardiac care.
Our current standard is clot-busting drugs (blood thinners) and delayed transfer to a Cath Lab.
Join us to demand better healthcare.
Inadequate, grossly outdated Inpatient Care Units. The existing inpatient care unit designs are now over 50 years old in the original 1963 nursing tower. They are extremely outdated in supporting and addressing today’s care programs, patient safety, and infection control issues due to the high number of multi-bedded rooms. They contain grossly undersized, totally inaccessible two fixture washrooms, sometimes shared between two rooms. The units require long staff in-flight travel distances from care stations to patients. In addition, the units have totally inadequate support space, which results in hallways that are lined with linen carts, housekeeping carts and medication carts.
- 2010 report on the state of NRGH, commissioned by VIHA. Download report here.