James Bay Community Project
Photo by Josie Bannerman

Twenty-five percent of patients at the James Bay Community Project's medical centre are 75 years of age or over, while 11% are 85 years or older. "I'm not sure the Vancouver Island Health Authority considered this when they decided to eliminate the nurse position," said executive director Graham Taylor.

by Josie Bannerman

Recent cuts to services at the James Bay Community Project (JBCP) will reduce its annual budget by $150,000. Cuts include elimination of a nurse position and a parenting program, along with a reduction in volunteer services. Losing the nurse will have a severe impact on the community, but it is still too soon to tell what the impacts for the other services will be in the long term.

Effective December 15 the medical clinic will no longer have a nurse on staff. "This is the third nurse position that has been eliminated at JBCP since 2007," said executive director Graham Taylor. "It will be the first time in 30 years that nursing services will not be available to James Bay residents and other patients served by the clinic."

Nurses at the JBCP have been a valuable resource to the community. They are experts in chronic care management, and have provided cost effective services to people with conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. They have also provided comprehensive women's exams. "The health prevention piece of our women's health service has been recognized throughout BC as a leader," Taylor said.

Taylor estimates that one nurse position provides about 220 patient visits per month, and since 2007, the clinic has lost the capacity to handle over 650 patient visits each month. "Cutting the nurse position is based on short-term economic savings, but the need for the service doesn't go away," he said. "Patients will find care elsewhere in the system."

Elimination of the last nurse position calls the sustainability of the whole health centre into question, and Taylor will spend the next month determining whether it can continue to operate with four part-time physicians providing service. While Taylor speaks highly of the skilled and dedicated team at the clinic, he is well aware that many people in the community are already upset that they can't get service. "I'm not naïve about this," he said. "We are operating to capacity, and it is difficult for us to meet the needs of the community."

Graham Taylor Photo by Josie Bannerman

Graham Taylor, JBCP executive director expects to spend the next month working out whether the health centre will be able to continue to function when the last nurse leaves in mid-December.