Article content The NDP’s efforts to improve health care through a new payment model for family physicians and the establishment of urgent and primary care centres has had the unintended consequence of cutting the ranks of walk-in clinics across the province. According to the medical mapping service MediMap, the number of walk-in clinics across B.C. has dropped between 30 to 50 per cent in recent years as clinics move to an appointment-only model or close their doors. This has led some doctors to warn that there are fewer and fewer options for immediate care in the province as urgent-care-clinic appointments remain hard to book in certain communities and emergency room waiting times continue to skyrocket. Rita McCracken, a family physician and UBC assistant professor in the family practice department, said part of the problem is the new payment model introduced by then-health minister Adrian Dix in 2023 that aims to retain family physicians through better compensation. The model encourages doctors to work in family practice instead of putting in hours at a walk-in clinic, she said. She likened health care to the education system and wants the province to increase the capacity of primary care, arguing that neither walk-in clinics nor urgent and primary care centres are an ideal model. “If we want people to have better access to primary care when they need it, we need to have clinics that have the capacity to be able to provide care to the people that live close by, just like we do for elementary schools,” McCracken said. “I’m not saying that there aren’t many, many problems with education right now, but if we just kind of take a look at that model of access to public education, we’ve completely thrown that out the window when it comes to primary care.” She said there needs to be a wholesale rethinking of how primary care is provided to people without a family doctor and that interested parties such as municipalities and community groups need to come together to figure out a solution. Some physicians say they have seen first-hand the effects of the decline of walk-in clinics. Kevin Mcleod, a North Vancouver-based internal medicine specialist, says people now come to see him for basic ailments, such as a bladder infection, that would be better dealt with by a general physician. “They don’t need to see me as a specialist, but they have nowhere else to go.” Mcleod said a walk-in clinic across the street from his office has papered over a sign saying “no appointment necessary,” indicating it has moved to an appointment-only model. The company that owns the clinic, Well Health Technologies Corp., did not respond to a request for comment, but a representative of the North Vancouver clinic said it does still accept non-registered patients, those patients now need to make an appointment. “I know the government gives their statistics that thousands of people are getting attached to a family doctor, but there’s still 800,000 people who aren’t and where do they go?” asked McLeod. “A lot of people don’t realize (that) if your family doctor retires or deactivates their college number, any outstanding refills or renewals of medications that you might have at your pharmacy are all automatically cancelled.” Josie Osborne, B.C.’s new health minister, told Postmedia she is aware of the challenges in getting primary care. Osborne says the main challenge is the shortage of health-care professionals in B.C. and believes the province’s efforts to recruit more physicians, nurse practitioners and other health workers fields will help. As for treading the line between encouraging doctors to go into family practice and working at a walk-in clinic, the minister said it will be a matter of working with family doctors and health-care professionals in each community. “The nature of the way primary care is being delivered is changing, and we’re seeing that in what physicians want, in terms of their work life, their work style, but also in needing to stand up clinics that work for communities and being able to tailor them well for what a community’s needs are,” said Osborne. MediMap CEO Thomas Jankowski said solutions are needed in short order as the closures of clinics has made waiting times at remaining walk-in clinics rise by 60 per cent. Meanwhile, emergency room waiting times continue to worsen as more people lose access to other options for primary care. According to the provincial government’s website, all or most of the walk-in clinics in communities like Victoria, Surrey, Langley and Maple Ridge are by appointment only. Nanaimo only has one walk-in clinic. “Wait times at ERs are getting horrific right now, and this might be actually the first year that we’ll talk about ER waiting times more openly as we’re starting to monitor those across the country as well. We’re seeing now the first year in which it’s quite regular to see entire ERs close because of staffing issues because of doctor burnout,” said Jankowski. “I just feel that health care is very much in a free fall right now, and we’re not really thinking of systemic solutions in a way that truly address this, as opposed to moving the puck from one place to another, which isn’t working.”Demand in Canberra's public health system is on track to increase by 20 per cent over two years as health authorities explore ways to meet the "extraordinary" surge while dealing with a workforce that has not gone up by the same amount. Black Friday Sale Subscribe Now! Login or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue Activity in the system was up 12.3 per cent in the 2023-24 year and is already up by about 8 to 9 per cent in this financial year. Canberra Health Services chief executive Dave Peffer said the increase was extraordinary especially as staffing had not increased by the same amount. "You do hit a point where you've got a range of constraints around affordability but also the sustainability of your workforce," he said. "The workforce hasn't grown 20 per cent in two years, activity has, which means we have a challenge ahead of us and we'll need to work on this in terms of not just efficiency but what it is we can reasonably do as a healthcare service as it grows." Health authorities are embarking on a restructure in Canberra Health Services , with a new operations centre established to help manage demand in the system. The centre oversees the health service and manages patient flow at the hospital. The new centre puts patients at the centre of the system, with Mr Peffer saying the current divisional structures were too fragmented. ACT Labor promised to hire 800 health staff during the election campaign, with the staff to be hired across the system , including nurses, doctors, midwives, specialists, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals. However, it has been a struggle to hire staff, and doctors have been demanding better pay from the territory government. The Fair Work Commission is set to decide on a pay rise for public hospital doctors after more than two years of unsuccessful talks and months of industrial action . Doctors have said it has been increasingly difficult to recruit and retain staff in the system which has contributed to the shortages. Figures show the extraordinary demand the health system is under. There are more than 7700 people on the waiting list for elective surgery in Canberra's public health system. Of those 2151, or 28 per cent, are overdue. Those needing plastic surgery are waiting the longest with 65 per cent of category two patients (those who need surgery within three months) being overdue for surgery. Canberra Health Services is also struggling with outpatient waiting lists. Outpatients are those who receive treatment or have an appointment with Canberra Health Services without staying overnight in a hospital. Health authorities have been exploring measures to reduce lists. An internal document, given to the ABC, listed measures Canberra Health Services could consider to reduce the dermatology outpatient waitlist. Activity in Canberra's public health system is on track to rise by 20 per cent. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong One measure was to stop accepting people outside of the ACT, but the hospital's planned care committee rejected this. Australian Medical Association ACT branch president Kerrie Aust said it was important clinicians oversaw these lists. "What we don't want to lose is clinical autonomy around waitlist determination," she said. "Within all departments around Canberra Hospital they are reviewing ways to improve the wait lists and one of the consequences of that is looking at who shouldn't be on the waitlist." A Canberra Health Services spokesman said the company would consult teams and would inform the public of any changes. "Canberra Health Services is focused on delivering a sustainable health services that enables us to provide health care to those with greatest clinical urgency and most in need," a spokesman said. "This means we have to routinely look at the sustainability of our wait lists. "CHS will consider all options for ensuring we can provide care to the most clinically urgent patients and those in greatest need. We will include our teams in the discussion about our approaches. CHS is committed to being transparent with our community and will communicate clearly when decisions are made." Share Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email Copy Lucy Bladen Reporter Canberra Times Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au More from ACT Politics Police will investigate alleged bus driver fish head assault 6m ago No comment s Health authorities explore how meet 'extraordinary' demand surge with static staffing 6m ago No comment s 'A bad system will beat a good person': massive restructure for ACT health system No comment s 'Troubling': Audit finds transparency problems with how levy is spent No comment s This judge said nothing wrong about rape trials. So why is everyone so outraged? No comment s Geocon's full plans for Phillip pool revealed - 286 units are just the start No comment s Newsletters & Alerts View all DAILY Your morning news Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Loading... WEEKDAYS The lunch break Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. Loading... DAILY Sport The latest news, results & expert analysis. Loading... 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Stock market today: Tech stocks and AI pull Wall Street to more records

Spain's monarch pays tribute to the victims of Valencia floods in his Christmas Eve speechNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes rose to more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to add to what’s set to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s the 56th time the index has hit an all-time high this year after climbing in 11 of the last 12 days . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record. Salesforce helped pull the market higher after delivering stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit fell just short. CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s artificial-intelligence offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global labor, reshaping how industries operate and scale.” The stock price of the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, jumped 11%. Marvell Technology leaped even more after delivering better results than expected, up 23.2%. CEO Matt Murphy said the semiconductor supplier is seeing strong demand from AI and gave a forecast for profit in the upcoming quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. All the optimistic talk helped Nvidia , the company whose chips are powering much of the move into AI, rally 3.5%. It was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 by far. They helped offset an 8.9% drop for Foot Locker, which reported profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Mary Dillon said the company is taking a more cautious view, and it cut its forecasts for sales and profit this year. Dillon pointed to how keen customers are for discounts and how soft demand has been outside of Thanksgiving week and other key selling periods. Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market . This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A narrower report released Wednesday morning suggested employers in the private sector increased their payrolls by less last month than economists expected. Hiring in manufacturing was the weakest since the spring, according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. The report strengthened traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. The central bank had appeared set to continue cutting rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat. Trump’s preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , which could alter the Fed’s plans . Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank can afford to cut rates cautiously because inflation has slowed from its peak two years ago and the economy remains sturdy. A separate report on Wednesday said health care, finance and other businesses in the U.S. services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected. One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed’s rate cuts haven't pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped. Plus, “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.” In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.23% late Tuesday. On Wall Street, Campbell’s sank 6.2% for one of the S&P 500’s sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the National Football League’s Washington Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse as its team president. Gains for airline stocks helped offset that drop after JetBlue Airways said it saw stronger bookings for travel in November and December following the presidential election. It also said it’s benefiting from lower fuel prices, as well as lower costs due to improved on-time performance. JetBlue jumped 8.3%, while Southwest Airlines climbed 3.5%. All told, the S&P 500 rose 36.61 points to 6,086.49. The Dow climbed 308.51 to 45,014.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 254.21 to 19,735.12. In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4% following a night full of drama in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. He revoked the martial law declaration six hours later. In the crypto market , bitcoin climbed near $99,000 after Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins , a cryptocurrency advocate, to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

WASHINGTON – as choice for has created an opening for one of the he designated for top posts at the Justice Department – or to other firebrands the president-elect was previously considering. Trump could potentially elevate , who he had already named as deputy attorney general, the department's #2 job. Other candidates included former intelligence official Kash Patel and . “It basically comes down to whoever can demonstrate the most fealty to Trump, and be a Matt Gaetz without the baggage,” said Jeff Breinholt, a former senior lawyer and counterterrorism official at the Justice Department. Gaetz withdrew from consideration on Thursday amid continuing disclosures of damaging testimony from federal and House Ethics Committee probes into allegations of . Gaetz denied the allegations. Here is what we know about potential candidates for attorney general: Blanche and Emil Bove, who was named principal associate deputy attorney general, defended Trump in his and federal investigations over his alleged and . Their delaying strategy held off action in both federal cases until after the election. After Trump’s victory, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is under department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president. Despite Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Blanche represented him aggressively, calling his former lawyer Michael Cohen a liar. Sentencing in the Manhattan conviction has been postponed while District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged a postponement until , while Trump’s lawyers contend the charges should be dropped entirely. Blanche had previously been a federal prosecutor in New York and clerked for two federal judges. "Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long," Trump said in announcing his choice for deputy attorney general. Lee, who has served 14 years in the Senate and sits on the Judiciary Committee, was considered a top candidate for attorney general before Gaetz was chosen and could potentially face an easier path to confirmation from his fellow senators. Lee was a vocal advocate for Trump during his first term and exchanged emails with Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, conferring over how to challenge the 2020 election results. , Lee voiced “unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal,” although the senator ultimately voted to certify Joe Biden's election victory. "He is clearly one of these guys that has great respect in the United States Senate,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. Patel served as a National Security Council official, a senior adviser to the Director of National Intelligence and as chief of staff to the Defense secretary during Trump’s first term. He is also under consideration as FBI director. Patel has frequently posted on social media and made public appearances to support Trump and his agenda since leaving office in 2021, especially in opposing and destroying what both have called the “deep state" of the national security bureaucracy. “We’ve got to put in all American patriots top to bottom,” in one recent post-election interview. Patel said he and Trump administration leaders “will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media” deemed disloyal to Trump. Patel has shown a willingness to do whatever Trump wants of him, but he rubbed a lot of people at the department the wrong way, along with judges in counterterrorism cases, Breinholt said. “Kash was very unpopular with the Judiciary during his time at Justice, so we sent him up to the Hill,” where Patel worked for Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., on the House Intelligence Committee, Breinholt said. Paxton has been who spoke at the former president’s rally near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, and attended his election night party at Mar-a-Lago. Paxton, who was previously a state lawmaker, has served as Texas attorney general since 2015. He filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration during a two-year period, with six cases heard at the Supreme Court. Like Trump, Paxton has been the subject of criminal investigations and an impeachment. He settled a longstanding indictment on charges of securities fraud in March without entering a plea but agreeing to pay $271,000 and performing community service. Paxton was earlier impeached on 20 misconduct charges but the state . “Ken was made to suffer for a long period of time but it worked out very well,” Trump said after the acquittal.OCVarsity video: Steve Fryer and Dan Albano make their predictions for the CIF-SS football championships

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) launched attacks against each other, accusing the other side of insulting Bhimrao Ambedkar. The Congress’ State unit took out protest marches in several parts of the State against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks on Ambedkar in the Parliament . Carrying placards and posters of Ambedkar and raising slogans, party workers who took part in marches in various cities alleged that the senior BJP leader had “insulted” the architect of the Constitution and demanded his resignation. In State capital Bhopal, the march was led by M.P. Congress president Jitu Patwari, Rajya Sabha MP and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Singh, and Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel among other leaders. Various other State leaders led the marches in their respective districts. Speaking to reporters during the march, Mr. Patwari alleged that the BJP is anti-Dalit and anti-Constitution. “RSS chiefs have repeatedly raised questions about the Constitution. BJP people have often broken statues and idols of Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s statues and idols. Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s constitution states that all citizens in this country have equal rights to eat, live and live freely, but the BJP even questions that. It becomes clear that basically the BJP is anti-Dalit, anti-Ambedkar, anti-Constitution. Therefore, Amit Shah should resign and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji should apologise to the people of the country,” Mr. Patwari said. Hitting back, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said in the evening that the Congress had caused pain to Ambedkar when he was alive and even after he was gone. “Congress gave Babasaheb pain at every step. They did not let him win the elections. They themselves took Bharat Ratna and did not even build a memorial for Babasaheb’s contribution... Congress’s feelings for Babasaheb Ambedkar are becoming clear and they are asking us to apologise,” Mr. Yadav said, speaking to reporters. The BJP also shared a video from a recent Congress protest claiming that Mr. Patwari had insulted Ambedkar. In the video, the Congress chief is seen writing something at the back of an Ambedkar poster while resting it on his knee. “They will never get better...Congressmen learned the game of insulting Ambedkar from Nehru ji. Jeetu Patwari proved by placing Ambedkar ji’s picture on his feet in public that Ambedkar ji’s picture is just a piece of paper for him. On the sacred land of Hindustan, Nehru ji and his Congress have always used Ambedkar ji and Dalits for political gains,” former State Minister and senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra said in an X post. In the recently concluded Parliament session, Mr. Shah had said, “ Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai - Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven).” The remarks had created heavy uproar inside the Parliament along with protests in the premises. The Congress has now planned to take the matter to streets in parts of the country. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers also carried out demonstrations against Mr. Shah’s remarks in various districts across the State. The Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress will also carry out foot marches in 53 districts of the State from December 25 to 29. Published - December 25, 2024 02:51 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Madhya Pradesh / Indian National CongressLOS ANGELES (AP) — Londynn Jones scored 15 points, making all five of her 3-pointers, and fifth-ranked UCLA stunned No. 1 South Carolina 77-62 on Sunday, ending the Gamecocks’ overall 43-game winning streak and their run of 33 consecutive road victories. The Gamecocks (5-1) lost for the first time since April 2023, when Caitlin Clark and Iowa beat them in the NCAA Tournament national semifinals. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

House rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics reportMAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Violence that engulfed Mozambique after the country's highest court confirmed ruling Frelimo party presidential candidate Daniel Chapo as the winner of disputed Oct. 9 elections killed at least 21 people, including two police officers, authorities said Tuesday. Mozambique Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda told a news conference in Maputo late Tuesday that a wave of violence and looting was sparked by the court's announcement a day earlier. He said it was led by mostly youthful supporters of losing candidate Venancio Mondlane, who received 24% of the vote, second to Chapo, who got 65%. “From the preliminary survey, in the last 24 hours, 236 acts of violence were recorded throughout the national territory that resulted in 21 deaths, of which two members of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique also died," Ronda said. He said 13 civilians and 12 police were injured. Ronda said 25 vehicles were set on fire, including two police vehicles. He added that 11 police subunits and a penitentiary were attacked and vandalized and 86 inmates were freed. Tensions were high in the country ahead of the The Constitutional Council ruling on Monday and violent protests started immediately after the announcement was made. Footage circulating on various social media platforms showed protesters burning and looting shops in the capital Maputo and the city of Beira, where some city officials were reported to have fled the city. Mondlane has called for a “shutdown” starting Friday but violence in the country has already escalated and the situation remained tense in the capital on Tuesday night following a day of violence and looting by protesters. The country of 34 million people has been on edge since the Oct. 9 general elections . Mondlane’s supporters, mostly hundreds of thousands of young people, have since taken to the streets, and have been met by gunfire from security forces. This brings to more than 150 the number of people who have died from post-election violence since the initial results were announced by the country's electoral body.Joshua Tree too crowded? Try these 3 enchanting desert hikes near L.A.

Published 5:58 pm Sunday, November 24, 2024 By Data Skrive The Monday college basketball slate includes eight games featuring a ranked team in play. Among those contests is the Duke Blue Devils squaring off against the Kansas State Wildcats. Watch women’s college basketball, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up for a free trial. Catch tons of live women’s college basketball , plus original programming, with ESPN+ or the Disney Bundle.