There is nothing universal or free about the Canadian healthcare system.
It is a financial shambles where each patient is treated as an expense, its staffed overworked and the bureaucracy bloated to a formless, money-sucking shape.
But don't take my word for it:
The Department of Health polled Canadians on their willingness to pay more medicare user fees in exchange for prompt care. In-house research rated the idea “controversial” but favoured by patients fed up with rationing and wait lists: “Others were open to the idea.”
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See how the 6 major drug regulators compare.
— Maryanne Demasi, PhD (@MaryanneDemasi) June 30, 2022
96% of the @TGAgovau budget is derived from pharma
Experts say “it is no longer possible for doctors and patients to receive unbiased, rigorous evaluations from drug regulators” @DrAseemMalhotra @ProfTimNoakes @P_McCulloughMD pic.twitter.com/sFa2YfdERC
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Health authorities across Canada have cut the hours of hospital emergency departments and urgent care clinics in recent weeks, a move that in some cases may extend through the summer, due to a surge in patients and staff shortages.
The situation, clinicians say, is tied to a resurgence of viral infections such as COVID-19 among adults and children and a push by others to seek care delayed by the pandemic, and exacerbated by the high number of healthcare workers who are sick or burned out.
Among provinces and territories, the B.C. government forced the most frontline and long term care workers out of their jobs. The province reported in November that 3,325 personnel were put on unpaid leave after its COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline expired.
When broken down by health region, Interior Health lost 1,018 workers, Fraser Health lost 587, Vancouver Island and Vancouver Coastal Health shed 480 workers each, Northern Health saw 320 health care professionals put on unpaid leave and Providence Health lost 104.
As a result of the B.C. government’s mandate, several hospitals experienced shortages, evidenced by operating room closures at Lions Gate Hospital, Richmond Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital and Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre.
Both the B.C. Children’s Hospital and the B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre saw impacts on future surgeries due to the mandates, while delays in surgeries and other procedures occurred at places such as Royal Jubilee Hospital, University Hospital of Northern British Columbia and Bulkley Valley District Hospital.
Ontario and Alberta followed B.C. with the highest number of unvaccinated health care worker losses, reporting 1,665 and 1,650 respectively.
The Alberta Health Services (AHS) revealed earlier this month that both full-time and part-time unvaccinated staff members had been removed from their positions. The AHS would not say which hospitals were impacted, citing privacy concerns.
Ontario has not implemented a mandatory vaccine requirement for health care workers. Instead, individual hospitals have introduced their own initiatives and laid off workers who do not comply.
Among the most notable cases in Ontario were Unity Health – including St. Joseph’s Health Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto – which saw 171 health care workers put on unpaid leave. Ottawa Hospital placed 318 employees on unpaid leave for failing to meet its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Saskatchewan came in fourth place with 1,100 health care workers facing consequences for being unvaccinated, although the province has yet to finalize its plans on how to deal with those who won’t comply with vaccination requirements. True North reached out to Saskatchewan Health to find out how many health care workers were put on unpaid leave but did not receive a response.
In New Brunswick, out of the 2,000 public sector workers who were not vaccinated by the province’s mandate deadline, 734 of them were health care workers in the regional health authorities. As for Nova Scotia, the province has placed 531 health care professionals on unpaid leave.
Since when was firing essential workers a good plan?
I know that you wanted to pull through and be as vile as you can be, Canada, but, once again, you failed:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian leaders have condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling; his government has said it won’t turn away Americans who can’t get abortions at home. But with long distances between many clinics, providers stretched thin and barriers to cross-border travel, that might not be much of a solution.
Canada fails morally and logistically.
In this country, we call that Tuesday.
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