Breaking the Waiting List Silence
I know how difficult it can be for a patient trying to navigate our public health care system in search of access to high quality care or some accountability for the lack thereof. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the doctors, nurses and other health care providers forced to work within the limits of this system. A special boy from British Columbia... [Read more]
Is Hallway Medicine Part of Our Canadian Identity?
One of Saskatchewan’s former premiers, Roy Romanow, recently spoke out about the federal government’s plans regarding future health care funding for Canadian provinces. With limits being set on the federal dollars available for health care, provinces will be forced to explore and expand alternatives to government delivery of medical services. Romanow’s... [Read more]
Socialized Medicine and Harm Reduction for the Rest of Us
One of the dangers of socialized medicine is that population health and minimizing public health care costs always trump what’s best for individual patients. As part of its harm reduction program the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is now handing out crack pipe kits to drug addicts in Vancouver. This is in addition to funding and operating a supervised... [Read more]
Patient-Centred Health Care Doesn’t Require Free Parking
An editorial on Parking-centred health care recently appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Dr. Rajendra Kale, a neurologist in Ottawa, shares his views about the unfairness of patients having to pay for parking while at the hospital. He believes that parking fees are a barrier to health care and can interfere with the quality of care. Does the pay... [Read more]
A Patient Safety Advocate Talks About the Bureaucracy in His Health Region
Charles Cruden volunteers much of his time to advocating on issues of concern to seniors. He’s deeply concerned about the sustainability of the Canadian health care system. Over the last few years he’s dedicated many hours to compiling publicly available information on administrative costs within his health region in Manitoba. With nearly thirty years... [Read more]