Other Clinic Patient to MLA Letter Template

Find your MLA's email and/or mailing address (find instructions here)

CC the Health Minister, Josie Osborne: HLTH.Minister@gov.bc.ca

CC the Premier, David Eby: premier@gov.bc.ca

CC LifeLineBC for tracking: info@lifelinebc.ca

Replace any red text below with your own.

Dear MLA (INSERT MLA LAST NAME),

Re: Urgent Action Needed to Preserve Access to Care for Thousands with Chronic Diseases

I’m writing as a member of LifeLineBC, a grassroots community of patients, caregivers, and allies advocating for sustainable, accessible, virtual group medical care for the hundreds of thousands of British Columbians, myself included, living with diseases like diabetes, chronic pain, ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Fibromyalgia.

I am worried and upset that the specialist care I now receive will be discontinued very soon. The Ministry of Health has advised that, in consultation with Doctors of BC, they will be placing a cap on virtual group medical visits, limiting such care to 20 patients at a time (I have also heard that the Ministry is seriously considering a revision to 30 patients at a time, but that is unconfirmed). This policy change will dismantle the current model used by clinics like changepain, LifestyleRx, and the BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia. Without intervention, the majority of the services these clinics offer will become financially unsustainable and they will be forced to shut down.

My Experience

[Insert your personal experience here — when you became sick, how long you waited for treatment, what your clinic has done for you, and how losing it would affect you, or simply delete this section and the title.]

What Will Happen If This Care Model Fails

• Wait times will soar, as clinics lose the ability to serve dozens of patients simultaneously

• ER visits and hospitalizations will rise, increasing pressure on the healthcare system

• Access will vanish for housebound, disabled, and rural/remote patients who cannot attend in-person care

• Quality will suffer, as patients are funneled into rushed 1:1 appointments with providers less familiar with their conditions

A Proven, Scalable Model is at Risk

Here is how the model works today:

• GPs refer patients to the appropriate clinic

• Patients are assessed via Zoom

• Ongoing care happens through large virtual group visits (40–60 participants), after which physicians update/review charts and provide ongoing individualized medical support 

This model:

• Saves time and money by reducing 1:1 consultations

• Frees up ERs, GPs, and specialist referrals

• Enables accessible, non-invasive care for patients too unwell to travel or too far away from major centres to access regular programs

• Supports long-term management through education and peer support

• Costs a fraction of conventional chronic care pathways

No Real Alternatives

While the Ministry of Health also funds in-person clinics like the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network, these alternatives are not meaningful since they are generally only offered in-person, have years-long waiting lists, and in some cases have strict limitations on the types of patients that can be referred (i.e. PCIC above is only open to those with Post-COVID, not those with non-COVID-related ME/CFS). Furthermore, many of these suggested alternate programs only offer high-level patient care for a certain number of sessions or months, after which, regardless of improvement or lack thereof, patients are automatically discharged. Ironically, they are often then referred to virtual clinics for continuation of care. 

In-person programs do not have the capacity to absorb the patient populations that will lose their care if these changes go through and collapse the virtual clinic model. This is not a situation where patients can simply “go elsewhere.” ERs, family doctors, and most specialists do not have the time, training, or tools to safely and effectively treat many of these conditions. 

I Need Your Help

The Ministry says it is taking early 2026 to do yet another consultation with the Doctors of BC - the special interest lobby group pushing for a cap of 20 or 30 patients in virtual group medical visits. Doctors of BC does not speak for me. I would like to meet with you to discuss why this care is so meaningful and ask for your help in getting the Minister of Health to reconsider this effective denial of access to care to some of the most vulnerable BC residents, including me.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

Your full name

Your Address

[digitally signed]

cc: Health Minister Josie Osborne
cc: Premier David Eby
cc: LifeLineBC