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By Caden Fanshaw

YEAR IN REVIEW

‘Now more than ever’: Bond looks to push for better healthcare in the north in 2021

Jan 3, 2021 | 9:02 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – 2020, like many of us was a rollercoaster year for MLA Shirley Bond.

Bond was re-elected for a sixth term and was named leader of the opposition in Victoria, after yet another victory in the Prince George-Valemount riding,

Although Bond has been busy since being re-elected she says she hasn’t forgotten about the need for better healthcare facilities in Prince George and the rest of Northern BC.

“Now more than ever, we recognize the importance of having a regional hospital that cares for people with cardiac issues, a surgical tower, and obviously that was something that the now majority NDP government made a commitment to on the eve, literally the eve of an election call,” says Bond

Bond says she’ll continue to push BC Minister of Health Adrian Dix for the kind of facilities she says the people of Prince George and surrounding areas deserve.

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“You just stop and think about the healthcare challenges we’ve been facing through COVID-19, the staffing challenges, the capacity issues we have at the hospital, and everyone is working so very hard to manage those issues,” says Bond.

Bond says she could never thank frontline workers enough. doing essential work while the rest of us stay home.

The NDP government has not many any financial commitment to a new surgical tower at UHNBC in Prince George, instead just breaking the ice with an announcement in mid-September.

Bond says she was relieved to hear the NDP government make the commitment and says she will make sure they follow through on it in the years ahead.

When making the announcement, the government called UHNBC “outdated and too small to safely accommodate the needs of a growing and aging regional population.”

UHNBC was built in 1958 and was originally called Prince George Regional Hospital with additions completed in 1978 and 2003.

There are 10 additional buildings that make up the 216-bed UHNBC site.