My thoughts on Canadian Healthcare:

We have am embattled and beleaguered provincial health system. I believe, first and fundamentally, that a universal healthcare system is about equal, efficient, and expeditious care for all members of society. I believe in this vision of universality, equity, and efficiency so strongly that I terminated a 17 year career in the United States to return to Canada. My practice as a Pediatric Cardiothoracic surgeon there was too often overshadowed by the inequities of American healthcare.

Soon after I moved to BC in 2010, I was confronted with an extraordinarily ill 1 month old child who needed a new heart. Shockingly, I was told “we don’t do those here,” and was advised to send the baby to Alberta. I fought for my patient and her family. We got that baby a new heart and, 12 years later, she is a vivacious and thriving young woman. This is the strength and focus I want to bring to fighting for the healthcare system that we and our patients deserve.

I have, over my career, developed and refined my ability to repair complicated hearts but the system challenges we all encounter eclipse those of any congenital defect. Difficult clinical decisions and complex surgery are what I signed up for, but the constant negotiation with under-informed administrators and aloof government actors to establish consistent and effective policies has been dispiriting. Change is mandatory.

Delivering on a vision of universal access to equitable and efficient healthcare must start with consistent and sustainable primary care. Every single person, child and adult, deserves a Family Doctor. Without this foundation, the system is chaos. Our Emergency Rooms overflow, our surgical waitlists extend, and primary care remains inaccessible to almost one million people in our province!

The next step towards making universal access real involves focusing on people in a system that has become extraordinarily complex and obsessed with technology. Prior to the pandemic, the human physicians inside that system had already begun to pay more attention to their well-being, mental health, and the balance they were achieving between work and non-work lives. COVID-19 accelerated that trend and massively disrupted the flow of great medical practitioners into the system. We need new and creative solutions to the challenges of not just attracting, but retaining, the next generation of colleagues. Everyone in BC should have an equal opportunity to be healthy and every care provider should have the ability to offer care without sacrificing their own health.

Government should include individuals who understand first-hand the system-induced challenges to maximizing the well-being of patients and providers. Though I have spent the last three decades in super-specialized medical care, I am the son of two Family Doctors and I myself have been on the receiving side of healthcare. Indecisiveness and wavering are not traits found in a successful congenital heart surgeon. The only option is to get the job done and get it done right. I will continue supporting and championing organizations that strongly advocate for fixing our faltering system and the broken souls of those who have so much potential to keep BC healthy.

Sanjiv K. Gandhi MD