The evidence is overwhelming: Canada needs more doctors
The coronavirus pandemic has accomplished what a multitude of government reports could not – that is, to draw Canadians’ attention to a faltering health-care system characterized by a chronic shortage of beds, overflowing emergency departments, and limited numbers of surgical personnel and operating suites. The flaws have been there for decades, but willful blindness on…
Government, medical professionals, and public-sector unions each hold veto power over any innovation
The Honorable Monique Begin wrote in 2009, “When it comes to moving health care practices forward efficiently, Canada is a country of perpetual pilot projects.” Governments need “financial control” and remain “leery” of committing to programs. Pilot programs are easy to shut down “to avoid criticism” or if “budget priorities shift.” At first glance, we…
How medical students are learning to provide safer, more inclusive care for all
“The most important way of reducing discrimination is to see yourself in your health-care system.” That’s how LGBTQ health activist Marni Panas summed up what transgender visibility means to her in episode 47 of The Re:Pro Health Podcast, a show about sexual and reproductive health produced by medical students at the University of Alberta. Panas, 50,…
Canada rations care with wait times, limited investment in technology, and by using family doctors as “gatekeepers” to service
Doctors frustrate governments. They think too little about how much health care costs and too much about their patients who need help. The government of Ontario and the Ontario Medical Association arrived at a mediated Proposed Physicians Services Agreement (PPSA) this month. Doctors started to vote on it yesterday, with voting ending on March 27.…
Dragging Quebec’s health care system into the 21st century
Calls for substantial health care reform have been ringing across the province of Quebec. It’s time to answer those calls and transform our monopolistic health care system into a mixed, universal system that embraces the value of parallel resources to improve both access and quality of care for patients. The good news is these solutions…
We all want a return to normality but that cannot hold true for our archaic health care system
Apparently, Canadians have a limit to the amount of unnecessary discomfort and ineffectual leadership they will suffer through. Polls, demonstrations, and now a convoy of truckers blocking streets in downtown Ottawa show that Canadians are fed up. Canadians want their society to go back to the pre-COVID norms. But while that may be true of…
Canadian health care delivery system is an unsustainable, failed system
Over the last 25 years, I have been involved in Manitoba’s health care delivery. I have served as Chair of the University of Manitoba’s Board of Governors, thus observing the roles of its medical school, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Manitoba Department of Health. Furthermore, I have served as Chair of the…
Throwing more money into the existing system won't work
Canada’s medical system is one of the defining benefits of living in this country, but we have learned from the pandemic that our medicare is nowhere near as strong and resilient as we might wish. Waiting lists have long been an indicator that the capacity of our clinics and hospitals was insufficient to meet our…
Health reform has been talked about enough
The need to reform Canada’s health-care systems has long been a hot topic of debate. After all, Canada is an easy target: It has one of the highest price tags among countries with universal health systems in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, but its performance has lagged for years. The effect of the…
Numerous studies prove that Canada’s health-care system is inferior to similar systems in almost every way
As we enter the year 2022, most Canadians will have lived their entire lives under the shibboleth that says we have the best health-care system in the world. Our beloved medicare is universal in scope, free of charge and offers equal access to all. What country could beat that? As it turns out, most countries…