Budget 2014 triggers Harper’s plan to dismantle national health care

Excerpts from an article by Michael McBane in the February 17, 2014 issue of The Hill Times

“Federal transfer payments to provinces were first used in order to establish national standards in health care delivery across Canada. On Tuesday, February 11th, Prime Minister Harper turned this on its head by tabling a budget that will use federal transfers in order to eliminate national standards in health care.” Continue reading

Private For Profit Clinics Hurt Our Public Health Care.

BC Health Coalition’s letter to the Editor in response to Pamela Fayerman’s blogpost on the clinics case is in today’s Vancouver Sun:

Re: Medicine Matters blog post: Dr. Brian Day vs. the B.C. government and antiprivatization foes: legal case twists, turns, March 10

Dr. Brian Day’s legal case is about more than patient access to private surgery centres. Dr. Day claims the basic principle at the heart of Canadian medicare – namely, that health care be provided according to a patient’s need, not their ability to pay – is unconstitutional.

A 2010 review of international evidence found private providers had not made major reductions to any country’s waiting lists. Studies in Canada and Europe show patients whose doctors work in both public and private systems have the longest waits.

Canada does not need health care reform via an end-run in the courts driven by for-profit clinic owners. We need the expansion of evidence-based pilot programs in our public system that have been shown to reduce waiting times for elective surgeries. We need to demand better from our leaders. Polls show the public favours investment and innovation in public health care to improve the system for all, not -profit health care that benefits only a few.

RICK TURNER

BC Health Coalition co-chair
http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/opinion/editorials/Health+care+Canada+private+versus+public/9619575/story.html?rel=7617429

Also, check out the letters from Cliff Bolt in the Comox Valley Record and Troy Zohner of the North Central Health Coalition in the Prince George Citizen.

Canada’s Medicare System Under Threat

    We risk losing Canada’s public health care system in 2014.

Right now, there’s a dangerous legal attack before the courts that could turn Canada’s Medicare system into a US-style system – without the public having a say. The attack is driven by Dr. Brian Day, owner of a Vancouver for-profit clinic known for unlawfully billing taxpayer and patient money. Dr. Day is on a reckless campaign to replace Canada’s Medicare with a US-style system, and he’s using the courts to do it. The case is being called the most significant constitutional challenge in Canadian history. And it’s going to trial in BC Supreme Court in 2014.

What does this mean for you and your family?
If Dr. Day wins this case, we’ll lose the public health care system that our families rely on. Doctors will be able to set any price that they want. Expensive private insurance will become the new norm like in the United States where the cost of insurance for an average family of four is $16,000 a year. Most bankruptcies in the US are due to medical bills – we don’t want to see a Canada where we risk losing our homes or go deep in debt when we get sick or injured.

Public wait times will also become longer, as doctors and nurses are drained from the public system to the for-profit system. That means that waits will become much longer for the rest of us while the elite get preferential access.

Why it’s a national issue affecting all of us in Canada
Even though the case is in BC, it threatens health care for all of us. If Dr. Day wins the case the laws that protect our public health care system will crumble across the country. We have to make sure Dr. Day is defeated. Canadians take pride in a system that looks after all of us when we need it – we don’t want US-style health care.

There are real solutions to the challenges we face that won’t compromise the values of fairness and access to good health care for all. Who’s fighting for our public health care system? The BC Health Coalition and Canadian Doctors for Medicare are interveners in this case. This means that we are participating directly in the case, and we’ll be standing up for Medicare in court. But this fight will not only be won in court. We need you to make sure that Dr. Day is defeated by sending a clear message: we want a system that cares for everyone, and taking away our health care system is wrong. We need to make sure our voices are loud and clear in government, media and our friends and family – we want a Medicare system that works for all people in Canada.

What can you do?
We need your support to help save Canada’s Medicare system. Help raise awareness about this case in your community, and help ensure that we are speaking out together about the importance of protecting public health care in court.
Take action:
1) Sign up at www.savemedicare.ca and keep up to date on the case.
2) Spread the word in your community: help organize a local event, talk to your friends
groups in your area.
3) Write to your local newspaper, and let them know your concerns about this important case.

Visit www.savemedicare.ca for more information

Why it Pays to Practice Poor Medicine in BC

From The Tyee/The Hook

By VANESSA BRCIC

Published February 21, 2014 05:00 pm

[Editor’s note: The Tyee received this unsolicited op-ed from Dr. Vanessa Brcic, a family practice clinician scholar at the University of British Columbia, and we publish it here for your consideration.]

Health care is the biggest, priciest, and most important thing that government does. Hospital care swallows up a large proportion of the health care budget, but primary care in the community takes care of most patient needs and keeps people out of hospital. Patients who are connected to a family physician over time are healthier and live longer. But there hasn’t been much of a conversation about primary care reform in this province, and it’s time to start one. (The auditor general thinks so too.)

Doctors like myself are paid well in British Columbia, but we are paid by an antiquated compensation model called fee-for-service, which basically reduces medical visits to a Continue reading

Medical Emergency Realities in Rural, Remote BC

For Princeton and Area residents who may find themselves in the unfortunate position of being sent by ambulance to the ER of another hospital, it is important to know that the ambulance only has the responsibility of providing one way service. Once they deliver the patient, the ambulance must return immediately to their home base. It is the patient’s full responsibility to make return transportation arrangements. This is BC provincial policy.

A few weeks ago, there was a story posted on the Princeton and Area Issues facebook page regarding a Princeton resident who was sent to Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) by ambulance. Unfortunately, the story contained much misinformation and the gentleman in question is displeased that his privacy was invaded and that the story created so much bad press and hard feeling in our community. Based on information received from Interior Health, who looked into this situation, the PRH practitioners and staff acted professionally and followed appropriate procedure.

Stories such as this, based on rumour and misinformation hurt everyone involved. It is understandable that residents feel strongly about their health care but there are better ways for them to express their concerns. Representatives on the Princeton Health Care Steering Committee can be contacted directly or you can send comments or concerns by email to comments@princetonhealth.ca. The Committee will make every effort to address the community’s health care concerns in an appropriate and timely manner.

There is no disputing the fact that the policies and procedures that govern Emergency Rooms and BC Ambulance Services can create inconvenience or hardship for provincial residents who live a considerable distance from the closest regional hospital. However, we can’t blame our local leaders, health care practitioners, the ambulance workers, or even IHA for this reality. If change in policy is needed, it needs to come from the provincial government.

Health Care Steering Committee Achievements

The Princeton Health Care Steering Committee held its fourth monthly meeting at Princeton General Hospital on December 17, 2014. The Committee has achieved many of its goals and continues to work on its mandate to develop and sustain an effective health care model for people living in and around Princeton. The following is a list of some of our achievements to date:

Automated External Defibrillators (AED)

An AED is a portable electronic device used in cases of life threatening cardiac arrhythmia, otherwise known as a heart attack. The device uses simple audio and visual commands to instruct the layman in the use of the AED. Rapid treatment by defibrillation can save the life of heart attack victim. Working in conjunction with the BC Ambulance Service, two AEDs have been installed in our community. With advice and assistance provided by Steering Committee member Paul Swain, it was decided to install one at the Princeton Curling Club (to be relocated to the Princeton Golf & Country Club during the summer months) and the other at Riverside Community Centre. These new devices are added to existing AEDs located at the Princeton Arena and in all smaller communities in rural Princeton (Area H).

Transportation

In cooperation with Dr. John Adams and Lynn Pelly of Princeton Community Services, the Steering Continue reading

PGH Upgrades Telephone System

The telephone system at Princeton General Hospital and Cascade Clinic has been upgraded. Although they are still tweaking the system, it is now possible to leave messages on individual extensions of staff and administration and the switchboard will be manned during regular office hours. Cascade Clinic has added more phone lines which should make it easier to get through to make appointments. If you have any comments regarding your experience with the system (either positive or negative) please feel free to contact the Steering Committee at comments@princetonhealth.ca

Happy and Healthy New Year

SOHC would like to wish all our supporters a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2013 has been a very positive and productive year for healthcare in our community. Most notably, we were blessed with the addition of three new doctors to the team of health care practitioners at the Cascade Clinic. The past year also saw the formation of the Princeton Health Care Steering Committee, charged with the responsibility of implementing the Health Care Action Plan.

As we look to the year ahead, we see many exciting projects and several important challenges. SOHC will be continuing its work with Dr. Barbara Pesut and her team of researchers from UBC Okanagan, as we develop a framework to study chronic illness and end of life care in Princeton. As part of this important work, we will be conducting a Community Asset Mapping project that will provide our team with a complete list of the valuable assets available to the residents of Princeton and Area H.

SOHC will continue its work on the Steering Committee as it develops an improved and sustainable health care model for our community. The Committee has achieved many of the goals identified in the Action Plan, including the recruitment and retention of four family physicians and one nurse practitioner, the establishment of a tele-health station at Princeton General Hospital, the installation of AED’s at Riverside Community Centre and the Princeton Curling Club, and the development of a community plan to address health care transportation issues. Work is now in progress to upgrade and improve the facilities at Cascade Clinic, to meet the needs of the five practitioners and the resulting increase in patient volume. The Steering Committee is committed to achieving its goals by the end of its mandate in September of this year.

At the November meeting of the SOHC executive, it was felt that we had outgrown our old mission statement and needed a new one. Although it’s a “work in progress”, the following is what we came up with so far:

 Working together to develop a healthy community where all residents attain a safe and sustainable quality of life. 

We also established the following goals for the coming year:

Dr. Pesut Reports on Research Grant

 

Updates from RHSRNbc Team Award Winners  

 

In July of this year, the Rural Health Services Research Network of BC awarded $5000 to Dr. Barbara Pesut, so that she could assemble a team to work on a rural health services research project.  Now, almost 6 months into the project, the team has provided RHSRNbc with an update:

  • Dr. Pesut’s team is currently conducting a literature search on rural health care models and resources designed to support persons and families living with life-limiting chronic illness.  Additionally, they are surveying and compiling local resources available to those living with life-limiting chronic illness. This information, along with Interior Health statistics on Princeton, BC, will help inform team decisions around pilot projects.  This team is comprised of UBC researchers, Princeton community members, and Princeton healthcare providers, and will meet next via teleconference in December.