Surrey, BC – In a bold step to address Surrey’s ongoing health care crisis, Mayor Brenda Locke has introduced a Notice of Motion calling for the City of Surrey to hire a Health Care Administrator—a move aimed at tackling critical health-care inequities and giving Surrey residents a stronger voice.
Despite having a population on par with the City of Vancouver, Surrey continues to suffer from a severe shortage of medical services. While Vancouver boasts 2,572 hospital beds, Surrey currently has only 671. Even with the planned addition of 168 beds at the under-construction Cloverdale Hospital, Vancouver will still offer triple the hospital bed capacity. Surrey also lacks essential services such as maternity and pediatric wards that are readily available in Vancouver.
“The creation of a Health Care Administrator will mark a significant step toward health equity for Surrey residents,” said Mayor Locke during Monday’s council meeting. “These disparities are not abstract statistics—they are the anxious parent in a crowded ER, the senior waiting for a long-term-care bed, the person with mental health challenges falling through the cracks.”
Surrey’s health care challenges include:
- 6,000 babies delivered in 2024 at Surrey Memorial Hospital, which was built to handle just 4,000 births.
- Only 59 family doctors per 100,000 residents, well below the provincial average and far behind Vancouver’s 136.
- Lack of critical services such as a cardiology cath-lab, stroke centre, and trauma unit.
- 996 total hospital beds in Surrey and White Rock combined, compared to 2,572 in Vancouver.
- 16 pediatric beds in Surrey versus 252 in Vancouver.
- Just 84 mental health and addictions beds, while Vancouver offers 377.
- Emergency doctors in Surrey spend only 16 minutes per patient—Vancouver patients receive nearly three times as much attention.
The motion directs city staff to:
- Investigate successful municipal health care models, including Colwood’s operational clinic approach.
- Explore solutions to attract more family physicians through community health centres and interdisciplinary care models.
- Assess the feasibility of Surrey employing or contracting family doctors directly.
- Report back within 120 days with actionable recommendations.
- Establish a Health Care Administrator within the City Manager’s Office to lead and coordinate advocacy efforts.
“This is a call to action,” Locke emphasized. “Health care is a provincial responsibility, but municipalities like Surrey can’t wait any longer. Our residents deserve better.”
City Council will vote on the motion at an upcoming meeting. If passed, it could mark a transformative shift in how Surrey approaches its health care challenges.
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