Healthcare System

Soon2BPaeds · Jul 20, 2006

I think it might be a case of the grass is always greener on the other side. In Canada we have universal health care that is paid for by the government through our taxes. This is great because everybody has access to care but the problem lies in the quality of care. Our system is overstressed right now and there are not enough physicians, nurses, beds, $$, etc to properly care for everyone. We have 10,000's of people in Ontario alone who do not have a family doctor because there is a shortage. We also have excessive wait times to see specialists and have surgeries (ex. Some people wait 18+ months for a knee replacement). In theory the system is great, but right now it is not working so well in practice :angryfire

fergus51 · Jul 20, 2006

It really depends on where you are. My dad had a knee replacement in less than 2 months (I waited longer for my gall bladder operation here in the US). Overall, Canadians spend way less money on their system and their life expectancy is higher, so it can't be all bad.

Fiona59 · Jul 21, 2006

It's a case of healthcare is available to all and we have all met people who are never happy.

Yes, you can wait long periods of time for surgeries, but if you are in an accident you will be seen STAT. It all depends on where you live city v. small town.

But the more I see of healthcare, I wonder if we lead people to have too high expectations. Should an 89 yo, dementia patient in a nursing home be on dialysis 3x/week, should we be trying to "save" very premature babies spending over $1,000,000/child for many who are not going to live, who five to 15 years ago would have been miscarriages, should IVF be available to every woman who feels its "her right" to be a mother.

Just because we can doesn't mean we should. The human body wears out, people are infertile for many reasons, we've all known nice couples who would have made wonderful parents but were unable to have children or adopt but were wonderful surrogate aunts/uncles. Where does basic healthcare begin and end?

gwenith, BSN, RN · Jul 21, 2006

It's a case of healthcare is available to all and we have all met people who are never happy.
Yes, you can wait long periods of time for surgeries, but if you are in an accident you will be seen STAT. It all depends on where you live city v. small town.
But the more I see of healthcare, I wonder if we lead people to have too high expectations. Should an 89 yo, dementia patient in a nursing home be on dialysis 3x/week, should we be trying to "save" very premature babies spending over $1,000,000/child for many who are not going to live, who five to 15 years ago would have been miscarriages, should IVF be available to every woman who feels its "her right" to be a mother.
Just because we can doesn't mean we should. The human body wears out, people are infertile for many reasons, we've all known nice couples who would have made wonderful parents but were unable to have children or adopt but were wonderful surrogate aunts/uncles. Where does basic healthcare begin and end?

You have made some excellent points. We have a dual system here in Australia. There is a universal health care system but to ease the burden on that you can have private insurance and pay excess. This, in theory gives the best of both worlds. Private insurance here is relatively (compared to the US) cheap and affordable, you don't have to wait for elective surgery and you still have the option of going "public" if you are in a real mess i.e. major accident.

The problem is that private health care does not cover all the costs so people still find themselves out of pocket following hospitalisation in a private hospital. This discourages people from joining and well, getting people to stay in private cover to keep the costs down is a real problem here.

DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jul 21, 2006

Thank you all for this information :) I had no idea there were problems. Hmm..Australia sounds like they have an interesting health care system as well. In Canada, do you have to pay a lot of taxes???

fergus51 · Jul 21, 2006

Taxes depend on where you live, just like in the US. FOr me, my take home pay is the same percentage in California as it was in Ontario.

Fiona, I didn't think most provinces covered IVF?

Fiona59 · Jul 21, 2006

The actual IVF treatment isn't covered by AB Health, but all of the screening for infertility (including both partners if a hetro couple) are covered by health care. The cost of IVF isn't covered by extended health plans offered by employers but the cost of the treatment can be used as a medical deduction on yearly income tax forms. Complications resulting from IVF are covered by provincial plans and there are a couple of long stays on gyne and ante-partum units that spring to mind.

So yes the actual IVF isn't covered but everything else is. And many of the IVF Mums I've worked with in post-partum have very high expectations of what the system owes them and are often disappointed when they don't get private rooms and nurses and the short stay that is so common today. We all know that the nurse patient ratio is much lower in ante-partum than in post-partum.

Maybe "owes them" is a bad choice of words, maybe I mean they have very high expectations of the system.

joey1967 · Jul 22, 2006

Had to throw my two cents in here,

I would agree, the Canadian health care system is in crisis. I have only been an RN for a year, and have spent the first part of the year working in the hospital where I got burnt out and witnessed first hand bed shortages, patients waiting in halls and out in Ambulance bays for hours on end for a bed, way too early discharges, staff shortages, you name it. It could not be any worse. The last part of the year I’ve worked in the Community - now I see what happens first hand to those discharged early because a hospital bed is needed. Many go home sick, without support, and without Dr’s to properly follow up. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have had to call EMT to take a client back to the hospital. Everything from serious infections to CHF, you name it. I had a 100 year old woman sent home from ER via a TAXI cab at 1 AM in the morning, no family support. The ER dr said he needed the space and couldn’t keep her there until 7 AM. I’ve had client’s in mental health crisis only to call support services to find out that there is a 3 month wait list - The stories I could tell are endless. I often feel helpless as a nurse. It is a serious situation where I am, in Calgary, we have a serious population boom, but not the infrastructure to support this influx of people - not enough Doctors, Nurses, etc., Waitlists are long. Surgeons have had to cancel surgeries at due to nursing shortages this summer. From a personal end of the spectrum, I have Canadian family members who have paid to go to Mayo Clinic instead of wait almost a year to see a specialist in Ontario. I do agree that if you are in an accident or are in serious condition you get ASAP. I also agree that we have medical interventions often that are questionable, for example, on one unit I was on, we had a 96 year old woman being operated on for a Bladder Suspension due to incontinence!! All because her children would rather not move her from her current nursing home into a nursing facility that would take care of an indwelling catheter. I’ve seen the same for 92 year old man in urology operated on because of dribbling……These are not unusual cases either. I am not sure what health is like in the States, but I do believe that if you are wealthy enough, you can get the best care ASAP….

fergus51 · Jul 22, 2006

Boom towns always have this problem unfortunately. The health system just can't keep up.

DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jul 24, 2006

I just wanted to thank everyone who responded. I'm glad to have learned this information, I just never knew that it had so many problems. Whereas here in the US, there are a lot of people without health insurance. Thanks again! :)

April1986 · Oct 12, 2006

I am Canadian, I know our system is in crisis and shortage. That being said I am still proud to live in a country where (in general) you are not treated on the basis of your income. I know how incredibly idealistic that sounds, but hey, if no one has a vision for healthcare, where is it going to go anyways?