VICTORIA — A Vancouver Island nurse practitioner who sees 200 patients a month says health-care cuts are threatening the survival of a community clinic that saves money because its model reduces visits to hospitals and doctor's offices.

Cheryl Hobson said Monday the James Bay Community Project, which is in the riding of Opposition NDP Leader Carole James, offers high-quality health care to patients, many of whom are over age 75.

Hobson said the latest round of cuts of $45 million announced last week by the Vancouver Island Health Authority included her own job that she's had for over six years.

Hobson, who received a two-month layoff notice, said the clinic will no longer have any nurse practitioners on staff after she leaves.

"We have 2,650 people who go to the clinic, 650 of them are over the age of 75," she said. "Who do they come see? They come see me. I am economical. I do great care. I am proud of it."

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced training. They do much of the same work as doctors and often manage chronic conditions as part of a team of health-care providers.

Hobson said she was trained in British Columbia but is now considering moving to Ontario where primary care is part of the province's health care.

Health Minister Kevin Falcon said the government is "investing heavily" in primary care.

"We've got integrated network teams right across the province," he said. "That doesn't mean there aren't going to be changes to the health system."

Falcon said the province has increased the budget for health care on Vancouver Island by 23 per cent over the next three years, but costs continue to rise and the health authority has had to cut back.

Falcon rejected New Democrat questions in the legislature that Vancouver Island budget cuts will lead to poorer service for the mentally ill and could threaten the lives of vulnerable people.

James said cuts to mental health services, including beds for psychiatric patients at Victoria's Eric Martin Pavilion and drop-in art classes for adults with mental illnesses, will damage the quality of health care on Vancouver Island.

"These are cuts in mental health services that will hurt people in B.C.," she said.

Port Alberni-area New Democrat Scott Fraser said the health authority's decision to drop six local crisis lines in Island communities in favour of a single Island-wide crisis line could be harmful.

"Why is he abandoning people in crisis on Vancouver Island and how can he justify risking their lives by shutting down our local crisis lines?" Fraser said of Falcon.

Falcon said the Liberal government has increased mental health funding in British Columbia by 50 per cent since taking office in 2001.

He reminded the New Democrats of their promise during the 1990s to spend $125 million on a mental health plan that they failed to deliver.

Falcon rejected Fraser's demand to drop the health authority's single crisis-line plan.

"We are challenging the health authority to be smart with the dollars they deliver," said Falcon. "Of course they shouldn't have six different crisis lines. They should have one. I support them."

Shannon Marshall, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, said the James Bay Community Clinic has not had funding for a primary care nurse since 2003.

Part of the recent $45 million in cuts included $127,000 in funding for a registered nurse at the James Bay clinic, she said.

Marshall said the facility is privately owned and that its operator is responsible for hiring and funding staff, the same as in other private, walk-in clinics or doctor's offices.

James, who uses the clinic, said she's frustrated that the government is slashing funding for a health-care model that saves money even as health-care costs are soaring.

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