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Supporters still Pine for free clinic

Supporters of Kitsilano’s Pine Free clinic continue their fight to save the youth clinic from closure. More than 75 people attended a community forum May 20 at Point Grey Community Church, hosted by Vancouver NDP MLAs David Eby and George Heyman.
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Supporters of Kitsilano’s Pine Free clinic continue their fight to save the youth clinic from closure. Photo: Wanyee Li

 Supporters of Kitsilano’s Pine Free clinic continue their fight to save the youth clinic from closure. 

More than 75 people attended a community forum May 20 at Point Grey Community Church, hosted by Vancouver NDP MLAs David Eby and George Heyman.

Vancouver Coastal Health was invited to the forum but did not send a representative. Vancouver-False Creek Liberal MLA Sam Sullivan, whose riding includes Pine Free Clinic, was invited as well but did not attend.

Pine Free staff were invited to speak but were told by the health authority not to speak to media.

Vancouver Coastal Health has confirmed that layoff notices were issued to Pine Free staff and doctors on April 30 and May 1.

The absence of representatives from the health authority or the provincial ruling party was disappointing to those who attended the forum.

“Having everyone sit down and talk with people would be the most fruitful way to solve problems,” said Dr. Farah Shroff, who teaches public health in UBC’s faculty of medicine.

In an emailed statement to the Courier, Vancouver Coastal Health rejected Eby’s offer to speak at Tuesday’s forum “on the grounds that we are in the process of organizing our own public engagement sessions in June where we will be fully able to explain in detail that rationale behind this redesign. We will make these details public as soon as our dates are confirmed.”

Vancouver-Kingsway NDP MLA Adrian Dix told the Courier Wednesday afternoon that Vancouver Coastal Health indicated to him it will hold a community meeting to explain changes to the Evergreen clinic on June 2.

Former patients and proponents of community healthcare responded quickly last month when they discovered that the health authority planned to cut funding to the youth-oriented clinic.

Sarah Richardson is organizing a letter writing campaign in hopes that the government will recognize the importance of Pine Free. “We hope that people’s voices are heard in a direct way,” said Sarah Richardson.

Eby, who represents Vancouver-Point Grey, and Heyman from Vancouver-Fairview will bring a petition to the legislature next week asking MLAs to support the continued operation of Pine Free Clinic. As of Wednesday night, the petition has 340 signatures.

Bryan LaRochelle kick-started efforts to save Pine Free when he started a petition on Change.org in April. That petition has 1,076 signatures as of the Courier’s print deadline.

LaRochelle is optimistic about the progress made so far, but is also aware that the campaign may not be successful. “I’m getting more responses than I ever expected,” he said. “It’s heart-warming.”

Pine Free supporters are holding a rally outside of the clinic Saturday, May 24.

Vancouver Coastal Health has stated that patients under 24 years old who use healthcare services at Pine Free Clinic can go to Raven Song Clinic on Ontario and Eighth Avenue. They will not be required to have health insurance to receive service.

However, experts on public healthcare policy are critical of the move to transfer primary care services from community clinics to a central location.

“Clinics that provide interdisciplinary collaborative care are very much in line with what the literature on healthcare tells us. We need more team-based clinical care,” said Shroff. 

Three other clinics directly funded by the health authority — South Vancouver, Pacific Spirit and Evergreen — will also experience cutbacks in primary care.

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