To provide better access to health services, the provincial Health Minister has announced an additional 25 million dollars to increase surgical capacity in the next year.
Terry Lake also announced the provincial government will fund four new MRI machines with one of them coming to the Nanaimo Regional Hospital.
To help meet demand with regards to surgeries in the short-term, health authorities will use the additional funding to reduce the backlog of patients.
All of the surgeries will be publicly funded, and will be performed in hospital operating rooms and at contracted private-sector surgical sites.
The exact number of extra surgeries is still to be determined.
