Canada sees boom in private health care

[mad1]

Quote:

Facing long waits and substandard care, a growing number of Canadians are willing to pay for health treatment, leading to a booming private business in Canada -- a country often touted as a successful example of a universal health system.

Private for-profit clinics are a booming business in Canada -- a country often touted as a successful example of a universal health system.

Facing long waits and substandard care, private clinics are proving that Canadians are willing to pay for treatment.

"Any wait time was an enormous frustration for me and also pain. I just couldn't live my life the way I wanted to," says Canadian patient Christine Crossman, who was told she could wait up to a year for an MRI after injuring her hip during an exercise class. Warned she would have to wait for the scan, and then wait even longer for surgery, Crossman opted for a private clinic.

Canada Sees Boom in Private Health Care Business - Political News - FOXNews.com

Quote:

A TIPPING POINT? It caught almost everyone by surprise, the decision last month by St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver to contract out 947 publicly funded surgeries to three private clinics. But as a sign of the times - of the national mood, in fact - it was right up there with Ralph Klein's, or for that matter Gordon Campbell's, bellowing calls for health-care change. That's because St. Paul's is not some creaky old institution. It is a UBC teaching hospital with 500 beds, 800 doctors and about 1,400 nurses. But for want of a dozen speciality nurses in its OR - over a six-week period, a handful retired, two others returned home to Australia, one moved because of her husband's job - the hospital realized it just couldn't cope. So it turned to the private sector.

According to this seventh annual Health Care in Canada survey, a solid 53 per cent of Canadians favour contracting out - that is, allowing medicare to pick up the tab for routine surgeries like knee or hip operations at private clinics - to deal with a public system that can be painstakingly slow.


That's the basis of a grievance now before the Supreme Court - a case, some say, that could crack medicare wide open. Known as Chaoulli and Zeliotis vs. Quebec, this is a five-year-old appeal of a decision involving a Montreal doctor and his patient who, upset at the long wait for hip replacement, wanted Quebec to order it done expeditiously at a public hospital, to be paid for by private insurance.

[Gomer]

Who is paying for your MRI (or rather, your convenience)?

[mad1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gomer

Who is paying for your MRI (or rather, your convenience)?

I am glad to pay for my convenience. Who pays for the inconvenience in Canada?I contacted the neurologists this morning and was able to get an appointment for tomorrow morning.

[Toadman]

I'm curious as to why you asked that question, Gomer.

[pickel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mad1

I am glad to pay for my convenience. Who pays for the inconvenience in Canada?I contacted the neurologists this morning and was able to get an appointment for tomorrow morning.

Good luck with your MRI. Hoping it's GOOD NEWS

[MTAtech]

He have waits here too. A colleague needs to see his cardio doctor and got an appointment for Late August.

[tony_j15]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gomer

Who is paying for your MRI (or rather, your convenience)?

Seeking swift medical attention is "convenient"?

[The Real Bingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTAtech

He have waits here too. A colleague needs to see his cardio doctor and got an appointment for Late August.

You can probably get an appointment for August in Canada...for 2011.

[Beemer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real Bingo

You can probably get an appointment for August in Canada...for 2011.

3 months to see a specialist and then another 3 months to perform the surgery if he/she is busy. Sure there are some extreme cases in heavily populated areas but the bi problem is nurses and doctors but mostly nurses are heading down to the States after training to make better money. There is a shortage of healthcare pro's. Thakfully some that can afford to hit private clinics do so at the present but many Canadians don't like that because you can afford it, you get prefferencial treatment being able to head off to the private clinic. Health care sholuld be on a first come first served basis since everyone is equal and money does not make you more equal than someone with less money.

[Toadman]

Quote:

but the big problem is nurses and doctors but mostly nurses are heading down to the States after training to make better money. There is a shortage of healthcare pro's.

Darn that flat salary where there's no impetus to hire and perform as the best. I know of an MD and a Nose-Ear-Throat specialist with dual citizenships who've come south to make it worth their chosen fields and help pay off their bills. Same with aviation students seeking the best bang for the buck.