Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Canadian healthcare

It is repeated so often that it is taken as an article of faith; Canada has a wonderful healthcare system that is available to everyone. The word "free" is used a lot, but obviously someone pays for it. That would be the Canadian taxpayer.

Therefore, it is interesting to learn that the Premier of Labrador and Newfoundland (those are provinces I gather, so he is the equivalent of a Governor of a U.S. state,) is travelling to the United States to have heart surgery. This is not just a skip across the border either. St. John's, the capital, is a long way from the nearest state (Maine), so this requires air travel, or a long drive and ferry ride.

I look forward to hearing why he is leaving Canada to come to the U.S. for surgery. I am willing to bet that the reason is the long wait for surgery in Canada could very well endanger his life.

ADDED: According to Acting Premier Kathy Dunderdale, Premier Williams' doctors recommended that he go to the U.S. for his heart procedure. The CEO of the province's largest health authority said; "There's no question that this is not a queue-jumping issue."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

and the fact that canadian patient to nurse ratio is so high your overall condition could deteriorate past repair while waiting on that single nurse to have time to check on you...shhh dont tell shelly i said that.