Posts by Andrew Longhurst

About Andrew Longhurst

Andrew Longhurst, BA (Hons), MA, is a research associate with the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA–BC) and served as senior advisor to the BC Ministry of Health’s Primary and Community Care Research Initiative. He is also a PhD student in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University, researching health care reform in Canada and internationally. He has authored numerous publications including, Assisted Living in British Columbia: Trends in Access, Affordability and Ownership (CCPA, 2020), The Importance of Community Health Centres in BC’s Primary Care Reforms (with M. Cohen, CCPA, 2019), Privatization and Declining Access to BC Seniors’ Care (CCPA, 2017), Reducing Surgical Wait Times: The Case for Public Innovation and Provincial Leadership (with M. Cohen and M. McGregor, CCPA, 2016), and Precarious: Temporary Agency Work in British Columbia (CCPA, 2014). Follow Andrew on Twitter

Rejecting the high costs of tax cuts and austerity to our health

Oct 17, 2024

By Andrew Longhurst, Damien Contandriopoulos and Mei-ling Wiedmeyer

Today, the election debate is dominated by competing tax cut proposals that risk eroding our collective capacity to invest in one another, thereby widening health inequalities that make us sicker and will further stretch an overburdened health care system…. View Article

Growing toll of COVID-19 on hospitals & population health should concern us

Dec 5, 2023

By Andrew Longhurst

New data from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) paint a troubling picture of the growing toll of COVID-19 on population health and provincial health systems. These findings come as public health authorities and governments have rolled back most measures that reduce SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) transmission, even as… View Article

Landmark health care case spotlights problems of a profit-centred system

Jun 23, 2023

By Andrew Longhurst, Noal Amir and Lorian Hardcastle

In April, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a case involving the constitutionality of legal limits on private finance in health care. A 14-year legal saga has ended, but many provinces seem to be ignoring evidence in this case indicating that a profit-centred system does not serve the public interest. Proponents of for-profit… View Article

The concerning rise of corporate medicine: Public contracts with private clinics top $393 million over last six years

Aug 26, 2022

By Andrew Longhurst

Private surgeries and medical imaging are big business in BC. Over the last two decades, this for-profit sector has benefited from increased outsourcing of publicly funded procedures and unlawful patient extra-billing. These private businesses are flourishing in part because the BC government has been awarding them millions of dollars in contracts to provide services while… View Article

BC should lead the country in adopting a COVID Zero strategy

Dec 7, 2020

By Andrew Longhurst

The second COVID-19 wave is once again putting a spotlight on the challenges containing this deadly virus.  In the last week, BC set records for new cases and hospitalizations. Positivity rates are dangerously high, especially in the Fraser Health region. The number of deaths has been climbing and there are now over 50 long-term care… View Article

Time to end profit-making in seniors’ care

Apr 22, 2020

By Andrew Longhurst and Kendra Strauss

The coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on serious problems in Canada’s seniors’ care system, as nursing homes quickly became the epicenters of the outbreak. These problems are not only due to the greater vulnerability of seniors to the disease, but also to how care is organized and staffed.  In recent weeks, BC’s provincial government… View Article

BC needs to significantly boost supply of public assisted living

Feb 5, 2020

By Andrew Longhurst

Too many seniors in our province struggle to find publicly subsidized assisted living where they can be supported as they age. Amidst an affordable housing crisis felt across generations, the need to significantly boost the supply of subsidized assisted living is more urgent than ever before. Assisted living is a type of supportive housing for… View Article

Virtual walk-in clinics undermine primary care

Dec 19, 2019

By Rita McCracken, Andrew Longhurst, Ruth Lavergne and Damien Contandriopoulos

Despite efforts by the BC government to increase access to primary care, new developments risk making it even harder to find a doctor. BC is one of the only provinces that allows doctors to bill government for virtual phone or video visits without restrictions. This may make it more convenient to see your regular doctor, however, a… View Article

The importance of community health centres in BC’s primary care reforms: What the research tells us

Mar 1, 2019

By Andrew Longhurst and Marcy Cohen

Community health centres (CHCs) have been an effective but under-valued model for delivering primary health care1 for decades in Canada and the US. One of the unique features of the model is its strong focus on the social determinants of health and preventing acute illness among groups who are more likely to experience poor health and suffer from chronic conditions, including… View Article

How (and how much) doctors are paid: why it matters

Jan 15, 2019

By Andrew Longhurst

How we pay doctors through our public health system is an important issue that receives little public scrutiny, despite the fact that physician compensation represents a significant share of the provincial budget and has been among the fastest-growing health care costs in recent years. A very useful analysis was conducted by BC’s Auditor General in… View Article