you want to take – IASK: Legacy

you want to take my what? – let’s talk about health
eh’?

Some discussions this evening prompted me to take a moment out
and look at the health care system of Canada.
OK, basically someone went into the standard "Canada rocks!
Our
health care system…" stuff. I know, it’s a crock but
they are so proud of it.

In any case, I bounced out onto the web and found some info
about the situation up there. I have no intention of claiming that
this is a complete overview of the situation… nor am I implying
that there is nothing to be learned from our Northern neighbors
but I am a little tired of the smug thing eh’?

Yes, it would be nice if health care in the US was free, yes there
are horror stories of families destroyed by the costs. I don’t think
the alternative shown in Canada is the answer. There is a good article
at intellectualcapital.com:

"Emergency rooms this winter are so crowded that
patients have been left to wait on hallway stretchers for
as long as 48 hours before a doctor sees them. Two deaths
in Toronto recently were blamed on the fact that ambulances
were turned away from overcrowded emergency wards.

On average, Canadians have to wait six weeks to see
a specialist and a further seven weeks to get treatment. It
takes an average 11 weeks to get a MRI and five weeks for
a CT scan, according to Vancouver’s Fraser Institute, which
monitors waiting periods.

Waiting lists for procedures like heart surgery or
radiation therapy for cancer stretch out for weeks, sometimes
months. When the delays get too long, the provinces of Ontario
and Quebec send cancer patients across the border to US hospitals,
at great expense." – link