The Casualties of the Canadian Public Health Care System

I recently came across an article on Macleans.ca entitled “Our Health Care Delusion” (dated January 2011) that told the story of a 41 year-old man from West Kelowna, B.C. who, in the throes of a mental breakdown, smashed through the Emergency Unit of Kelowna General Hospital with his Chevy Blazer after waiting 90 minutes to see a doctor. Apparently, he had been advised it would be a 45 minute wait which, in truth, isn’t a long waiting time compared to today’s emergency room standards. He snapped when his threats to drive his truck into the hospital if he didn’t get treatment were dismissed by hospital staff.

Liberal MP and medical doctor Keith Martin said “the sorry state of the nation’s emergency wards is just one indicator of trouble today and trouble to come.” Martin, a former family and emergency room doctor, experienced dire situations that eventually prompted him to change professions and go into politics. He said most patients have to endure long wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries, and others have to live with tumours that could grow into inoperable sizes while waiting months for diagnostic scans. Martin pointed out that, “those are the casualties of our health care system, and the casualties of the inaction of modernizing the system, that people don’t talk about.”

In 2014, Canadian health care will have to deal with the expiration of a 10-year health accord among the federal government, provinces, and territories.  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes that changes to the Canada Health Act should include that Canadians pay small fees or deductibles for using health services in order to discourage people from overusing the system as most other OECD countries do.

Find out what your type of health coverage your province offers.