Regarding the "unprecedented" expectation of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) that the regional government here assume hospital equipment expenses that have heretofore been provincial responsibility ["Hospital decision on hold," January 20], the question I want to ask is: why?
Not asking why might simply be an implicit welcome of or acquiescence just to more "cost-sharing" from the province like the current request. But there's unlikely to be any satisfying answer.
The only thing that's new about this request is it's in an area where our community isn't as familiar with downloading. The pattern is very familiar elsewhere and, apparently, other regional hospital districts recently have been complying with similar requests.
Bureaucrats like VCH chief operating officer Mike Nader, author of this request, are compartmentally blinkered. The Hospital District Act, article 20 (1)b, seems to have been liberally stretched, making any answer from him a creation to suit this situation, which is not where the fiscal problem originates.
The dilemma for the question of why is that the only satisfactory answer I can see goes all the way back to the shrinking drivers, and operation of western economy, and this is beyond the province's capacity or capability to manage.
Perhaps it's beyond anyone's capacity to manage, until we're honest about its nature. But I find that view beyond unpopular, to the point where it looks like virtually our whole society is collectively sleepwalking or in denial.
I don't expect there even exists the capacity in provincial leadership for the integrity or vision to actually answer why and adequately justify what simply appears to communities as downloading every direction we look.
The real question is: where does the buck stop? It must be with leaders who can address what's going on in language that will work for people and community, pointing in a direction of solutions as well as naming the problem, in a way that allows us to move forward constructively. But that may be local and look quite different to what we take for granted.
Rob Southcott
Gordon Avenue
