Re: “Loss of clinic’s doctors distressing to seniors,” letter, March 7.

I also have been a patient since it opened and looked forward to many years of service. I was previously a patient at the James Bay Health Project when doctors resigned en masse because they were similarly asked to do more for the same pay.

I read that such multidisciplinary clinics provide effective, cost-efficient primary care and pre-empt expensive acute-care costs. Why isn’t this a higher priority for the Vancouver Island Health Authority when it comes to allocation of our tax dollars? Instead, we hear of enormous amounts being spent on acute-care overtime because less expensive levels of care are underfunded, while huge salaries and benefits and generous parting gestures are paid to the managers who appear to have shown such poor foresight and planning.

As the writer says, pay the Health Point doctors what they are asking for so that we can continue to receive the excellent, efficient health care that they provide. Hiring new doctors will undoubtedly lead to another rash of resignations down the road once the replacement doctors are no longer willing to buckle under to unreasonable demands that compromise sound health-care practices.

Helen Durie

Victoria

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