Eby government mum on details of U.S. health-care recruitment drive

VANCOUVER — Premier David Eby is hailing his government’s targeted U.S. health-care recruitment drive as an early success after more than 400 professionals “accepted job offers” in BC, but many are questioning the program’s real-world impact and also pointing to the BC NDP’s earlier decision to terminate thousands of local health workers who refused COVID-19 vaccines..The one-year update, released Tuesday, states that since the campaign launched in March 2025, more than 400 U.S.-trained doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health professionals have accepted positions as of January 2026, including 89 physicians and 260 nurses.The release frames the recruits as “serving people in B.C.” and “making B.C. home,” suggesting they could help attach up to 50,000 additional patients to primary care if half the doctors are family physicians with full panels.Premier David Eby called the effort proof that “British Columbia is not only a great place to live, it’s also a great place to work and grow your career,” citing the province’s commitment to “evidence-based medicine and public health care.”.The Western Standard requested detailed clarification from the Eby government on several points raised by the announcement but received no response by deadline.Questions included how the recruitment of roughly 400 professionals, against roughly 4,500 permanent nursing vacancies and family-doctor shortages affecting hundreds of thousands of British Columbians, would meaningfully reduce wait times or attach more patients to primary care, and what specific metrics — such as reductions in unattached patients or ER diversions — demonstrate tangible improvement so far.The Western Standard also asked for the exact number of the 400-plus individuals actually on the ground and actively working in patient-care roles as of March 2026, versus those still navigating relocation, licensing or immigration pipelines.A follow-up question pressed the Eby government on the percentage of the 89 doctors who are family physicians versus specialists.The Western Standard also demanded an explanation for the sharp drop from more than 2,750 job applications received to only 400-plus accepted offers — an attrition rate of roughly 85 per cent. Without identifying individuals, the government was asked whether screening processes had revealed any concerning trends, such as unusually high rates of criminal histories, prior disciplinary actions or U.S. licensing revocations.Despite an Eby government representative confirming receipt of the questions, and noting the deadline, no answer or further reply was received.There is also the issue of the Eby government playing catch-up in an apparent attempt to replace thousands of homegrown and homemade healthcare workers, many of whom were terminated for objecting to the COVID-19 vaccine in recent years. Independent MLA Tara Armstrong highlighted the apparent contradiction in a Tuesday X post replying directly to Eby’s announcement. “You fired about 7x that many healthcare workers with your unscientific COVID mandates,” Armstrong wrote. “You celebrated as wave after wave of immigrants flooded into understaffed hospitals. You broke our healthcare system and 89 US doctors won’t fix it. Resign.”.The Eby government terminated approximately 2,500 health-care workers in late 2021 and 2022 for refusing to comply with the provincial COVID-19 vaccine mandate imposed by then-Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.British Columbia has continued to grapple with severe staffing shortages since, including thousands of persistent nursing vacancies and more than 350,000 people on the Health Connect Registry awaiting attachment to a family doctor as of early 2026.

Eby government mum on details of U.S. health-care recruitment drive

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