B.C.'s health care system has to find $360 million worth of savings this year, and regional authorities are looking at cuts to elective surgery, administration, staff overtime, "non-essential" maintenance and contract services.

Health Minister Kevin Falcon met with the chairs of the six regional health authorities this week, and memos went to all health region staff Wednesday outlining the options.

"Possible service changes may include converting existing facilities to urgent care centres and increasing the focus on primary health care services, transferring acute care beds to the community and transferring and consolidating bed capacity in residential care facilities to other facilities," Vancouver Island Health Authority CEO Howard Waldner said in his memo to all staff.

VIHA is also looking at selling unspecified property, and like other health authorities is planning to reduce the number of elective surgeries it does this year.

Elective surgeries are to be cut back in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions during the period around the 2010 Olympics, and Falcon said that's prudent planning.

The experience with Olympics around the world has been that people postpone elective surgeries so they can attend events, he said. And with a severe influenza season likely ahead, that's a fortunate coincidence.

"What Fraser Health and Coastal Health will be doing, recognizing that we've got a flu season coming back in the fall, we've got H1N1 to deal with, they are going to be making sure that as we see an anticipated increase in flu activity, that's going to use up a lot of the medical beds in the hospitals," Falcon said.

Falcon released the memos from the health authority administrators as they were going out to staff. They do not contain specific changes such as the potential downgrading of Mission hospital's emergency department, considered after the opening of a new Abbotsford hospital and an expanded emergency ward in Maple Ridge.

Going into a two-day cabinet meeting at the legislature Wednesday, Falcon said the cost-saving decisions will be made public as soon as they are finalized.

"I promise you there will be no attempt to keep anything quiet," he said. "We'll be up front about all the decisions as best we can."

He said the February budget commitment to increase health care spending by 20 per cent over the next three years is being met, but there will be no more money added. That still leaves an average shortfall of 3.5 per cent for health regions, due to rising wages and increasing demand from an aging population.

The budget for health care in B.C. is about $11 billion this year, and has been rising by six to seven per cent per year in recent years.