Health units need more funding to fight measles, NDP critic says
Ontario's measles outbreak continues to grow but there has been no new dedicated funding to tackle this public health threat. As CBC's Jennifer La Grassa reports, the NDP is calling for more cash to fight the biggest outbreak since the disease was considered eradicated in Canada in 1998.
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CTV News
34 minutes ago
- CTV News
Business is bleak: Urgent calls to resuscitate downtown Victoria
The annual report from the Downtown Vancouver Business Association is calling for urgent action from all three levels of government. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual It's not pretty, but it's predictable. The Downtown Victoria Business Association's annual report is highlighting myriad issues in the core of B.C.'s capital city, finding hundreds of business owners are interested in setting up shop elsewhere. Of the 627 business owners who responded to a DVBA survey, roughly 300 – or 48 per cent of respondents – said they'd consider closing if they weren't tied to a lease. 'Businesses are in a difficult situation and are no longer able to wait for long-term solutions,' DVBA executive director Jeff Bray said during a press conference on Wednesday. 'This really serves as a wake-up call for all three levels of government to take immediate action.' The challenges raised in the annual report are crime, homelessness, and parking. That won't come as a surprise to many, as downtown businesses have been flagging those issues for years. Oh Sugar, a candy shop on lower Johnson Street, is one of the businesses considering bidding downtown adieu. 'Post-pandemic, we've noticed a lot more… street disorder, crime, mental health issues,' Oh Sugar co-owner Keith Johnson said. 'It doesn't necessarily make financial sense to keep operating in the downtown core with just so much activity happening that's in a negative perspective.' When it comes to cash, about 39 per cent of DVBA survey respondents reported a decline in their net profits. Roughly 27 per cent of respondents saw an improved economic performance and 21 per cent had no change. Possible solutions in the works The DVBA wants the province to provide immediate access to addictions and mental health treatment, potentially using portable trailers as temporary service spaces. 'Get on with not only saving our downtowns but saving lives and providing humane care for people who are clearly struggling on our streets,' Bray said. B.C.'s Health Ministry said it's working urgently to expand mental health and addictions care. The DVBA is advocating for involuntary care for those who are extremely sick, which the province announced it was expanding last fall. It has opened 10 involuntary care beds at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre and another 18 at Alouette Homes, a mental health facility in Maple Ridge. Also on the DVBA's wish list: increased funding for the justice system. '(A) small number of people (are) committing the majority of the crimes. If they were actually held in custody, you would see an immediate reduction in crime,' Bray said. Last month, the province launched a public safety program aimed at reducing robbery, shoplifting, vandalism, and other non-violent street crimes in high-traffic business areas. The province also noted it has increased the budget for the B.C. Prosecution Service and has funnelled money toward court service enhancements. As for the city's part in all of this, the DVBA is asking for an increased police presence downtown. It also wants to see sidewalk bylaws enforced more strictly, preventing people from camping along city streets. Victoria's mayor said the city is launching a community safety plan soon, which will address both of those concerns. 'I'm not particularly surprised and I'm actually pleased to see that we're sort of harmonious on the fact that we do want to have additional policing,' Marianne Alto said. 'Although I'm not at liberty to go into the details of it yet, you would not be surprised to see some similar concepts in the community safety plan when it's finally released.' The bright side Eleven per cent of downtown storefronts are vacant, up from about 3 per cent in 2019, the DVBA says. That doesn't mean downtown is without new additions. The owners of the Little Plant Shop moved their business from Edmonton to downtown Victoria a year-and-a-half ago. 'We're still building our following here, so we've been making money, but we could definitely be busier. Now that the locals are discovering us, it's picking up,' co-owner Eric Gibson told CTV Vancouver Island. He and his partner were drawn to the core because they wanted to be surrounded by local shops and take advantage of foot traffic. Much of that traffic comes from tourists – an industry that's been thriving in recent months. Depending on the day, Gibson sees between 20 to 200 customers come into the store on Johnson and Broad Street. 'If there were more free parking days, I think we would see more local traffic,' he said. Still, he's optimistic about the future of the business. 'There is a lot of support so far. I think everybody here… loves plants and we have a lot of unusual plants and our expertise kind of sets us apart from the other shops,' he said.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Calls for multiple sclerosis drug coverage
Vancouver Watch B.C. is the only province that doesn't cover the cost of a powerful and pricey medication for people with multiple sclerosis.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Eye contact and earlier diagnosis: How AI is transforming front-line health care in B.C.
British Columbia's medical community is buzzing with enthusiasm and ideas, personal anecdotes and concerns, as the adoption of artificial intelligence becomes increasingly mainstream – and valuable. While a handful of family doctors have been using tools like AI scribes for years, Dr. Inderveer Mahal began relying on Heidi Health for summaries of her patient interactions last year, and is considered an early adopter of the technology. 'We're often busy typing while also speaking to our patients, and it is so nice to be able to look at a patient, look at their body language, be focused on how I communicate versus also trying to type and document the visits,' she explained. There are currently no requirements to notify patients that an app is listening and generating a synopsis of a visit when the audio isn't being recorded, but Mahal makes sure that she mentions it at the start of an appointment. And while she has to review the generated summary to ensure it's accurate and make corrections, Mahal said she saves hours per week, meaning 'less screen time, less mental fatigue, less administrative tasks.' A second set of eyes for diagnosis The University of British Columbia now has a special hub for staff, students and clinicians working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, research, and health care, putting the university at the forefront of this new frontier. 'A few years ago, as the AI revolution took hold, there were some fears among some clinicians that they could replaced,' said UBC associate professor of biomedical engineering Roger Tam. 'Now, in many cases, it's used basically as what they call a second reader, so the AI provides an opinion, but the radiologists are the clinician is still in the driver's seat and they are the ones who still make the primary call.' Tam explained that while radiologists are highly skilled at identifying cancers from medical scans, for example, machine learning algorithms are trained on thousands of images, which allows them to detect some serious illnesses before the patient shows any of the typical signs. 'These diseases can be asymptomatic for a long time,' he said. '(AI) is able to see things that humans can't, that's why the two work so well together.' New medical school will incorporate AI The founding dean of Simon Fraser University's coming medical school in Surrey has been dabbling with artificial intelligence tools for a decade and expects that scribe summaries will be the norm within the next five years in family doctors' offices. That's why Dr. David Price is already planning for incoming medical students to incorporate artificial intelligence technologies from day one. 'It's going to be a core part of the curriculum, absolutely, and it's going to be really embedded through everything that we do,' he said. 'I'm sure every medical school is helping their students in their residence and their fellowship to understand how to use these tools responsibly.' Price believes that aside from being a significant time-saver for clerical tasks, artificial intelligence software can be a powerful tool for researching symptoms and treatments – as long as it's drawing from reputable, verified, reliable sources. 'So many times, a recommendation comes up and it may or may not be appropriate for you and in your particular life circumstances in your particular value set, your desires, for your own health,' he said. 'We need to understand those nuances so that at the end of the day, (the treatment) is a decision between the patient and their physician or their clinician.' This is the first part in a CTV Vancouver series taking a deep dive into the use of artificial intelligence in health care.
