Health Minister Kevin Falcon has told the residents of British Columbia to brace themselves for significant changes in health care funding, to "drive more productivity out of the current system", as he put it.

"Why can't British Columbia be the Mayo Clinic of the North?", asked an introspective Falcon on a radio talk show, earlier this week.

The Health Minister hinted that the next phase of development in the British Columbia Health Care System will be the expansion of capacity in treating foreign patients at premium rates, at the state-of-the-art hip and knee replacement units at UBC and Richmond hospitals.

"We bring in foreign students, we charge them about four times what British Columbian students pay, and we use that revenue to create more spaces, hire more teachers and provide more opportunities for British Columbians", Falcon said.

Falcon later told reporters that surgeons from British Columbia fully support his idea of opening up operating rooms for extended hours at night and on weekends to perform extra surgeries.

NDP health critic Adrian Dix bashed Falcon's initiative by commenting that Falcon is cutting upon the surgeries and MRIs, therefore, increasing the wait times for British Columbians.

"And now he's speculating that as a result of those policies he should open up that time to rich Americans and others", adds Dix.