Your Simplified Guide to the BC Healthcare System It has always been important to be an empowered patient or caregiver, but likely never more so than right now. If we are or someone we care about is seriously ill, we have to rely on the healthcare system — but it is also on life-support and we must know how to do the heavy lifting in our own care. Healthcare in British Columbia is nothing if not complicated. General practitioners, specialists, waiting lists, residential care, and everything in between seem to all exist independently of anything else. Knowing where to turn can feel like something you need a medical degree for, or at least, it can feel like an art. This step-by-step guide for those who suddenly find themselves with serious illness or injury in a medical world that moves too fast and seems to speak another language. Whether you are self-advocating, or advocating for a loved one, and if you are facing confusion or hard healthcare choices in British Columbia, this guide is for you.