VANCOUVER, BC — Lorne Doerkson outlined his plan today to deliver new Urgent and Primary Care Centres (UPCCs) to Coquitlam, North Delta, Surrey, Comox Valley, Greater Victoria, Port Hardy, Steveston, Cowichan Valley, Oceanside, Terrace and Kitimat.

“Health care in this province is in total crisis under the NDP,” said Doerkson. “Rather than fix the system, David Eby called a cynical and opportunistic election for his own benefit. After nine years, nothing is better, and British Columbians can’t trust him to keep his word.”

David Eby and the NDP’s failed record on health care is clear. Today, 1.2 million British Columbians don’t have a doctor. Emergency rooms recorded nearly 2,400 temporary closures between 2023 and 2025, and in 2024-25 alone, 141,961 patients went to an ER and left without ever being seen. Most damning of all, the NDP government’s own data shows nearly 17,000 British Columbians died while on surgical and diagnostic waitlists between 2022 and 2026.

The NDP has met every one of these challenges with the same failed approach. They announce a new program, raise taxes to pay for the program, hire more administrators to run the program, and bury doctors and nurses in red tape instead of letting them treat patients.

A Conservative government will fully fund BC’s health care system and keep it publicly funded and universally accessible. New UPCCs in these eleven communities will give families faster access to care close to home and take pressure off overwhelmed emergency rooms.

British Columbians deserve better. Lorne Doerkson and the Conservative Party of BC will deliver the strong leadership these serious times demand.

– 30 –

Media Contact:
Alex Shiff, Director of Media Relations
media@conservativebc.ca