BC-CLMF 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),

I am writing to ask for your help, because I am about to lose access to my health care. I am a patient of the BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS, & Fibromyalgia, a clinic that provides care via virtual group medical visits for people with complex chronic diseases. I am very fortunate to be a patient of the clinic - there is nowhere else in the province that I can get access to specialist physicians to care for my diseases on an ongoing basis.

[OPTIONAL - INSERT MAX. OF 4 SHORT SENTENCES HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPACT OF YOUR DISEASE ON WORK/FAMILY/PERSONAL AND/OR PAST MEDICAL ENCOUNTERS]

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). The clinic sees patients in groups of 50. My experience with these groups is that the care is very high quality; the specialist care that I get access to lasts an hour or longer and is tailored to my diseases, diagnoses, and symptoms. The bulk of each visit involve patients (including myself) asking questions, and many other patients' questions also pertain to my condition. Consequently, the care is both very meaningful and personalized for me. Groups of 50 are needed to keep the clinic operating and serving the 6,000 very ill people across BC that are currently patients. A cut of 20 or 30 patients per group medical visit would see thousands of people as medically complex as myself effectively lose access to care due to increased wait times. As a result, we will return to the ER and to our family doctors, creating longer lines for other patients and incurring untold costs for investigations of our symptoms that are not necessary when they are properly treated.

The clinic hired MNP consultants to identify the cost and benefit impacts of the clinic's operations here in BC. This is the same consultant group used by the Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health previously for investigations into fee-for-service items. MNP concluded that the clinic's annual activities generate savings that exceed the cost of its MSP billings. This means the care is fiscally responsible. Moreover, they also found that 17% of patients returned to work after being disabled, and 80% of patients experienced significant symptom improvement. These are extremely good results for this patient population, not only here in BC, but across Canada and around the world. Please take a look at the executive summary and the full report at this link: https://www.lifelinebc.ca/mnp-study-results

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