20 - North Shore News - Sunday, February 6, 2000

A prescription fe

Jessica Tichenor
Contributing Columnist

WHILE Health
Minister Allan Rock’s
recent announcement
regarding three new
initiatives to save the
Medicare system is wel-
come, it is far too little
and far too late.

Perhaps if his government
had acted years ago to imple-
ment a comprehensive home-
care program, the system
would not have reached its
present crisis but that is cold
comfort for those thousands
of people on waiting lists.

As Canadians, we have
relinquished the right to pur-
chase health care directly or
by private insurance. Instead,
we have entered into a
“Medicare Contract” with
governments guaranteeing us
universal access to care.
Thus, we are entirely depen-
dent on the Medicare system
for all our health care.

However, with emergency
rooms too crowded to accept

even cerminally ill patients,
assessment, surgery and
treatment waiting lists num-
bering thousands of patients
and routine use of American
facilities for cancer patients in
Quebec, Ontario and other
provinces, it is obvious that
governments have failed in
their legal obligations to pro-
vide us with that care under
the terms of this contract.

As governments have
neglected their responsibility
for adequate Medicare sys-
tem funding and manage-
ment, especially in the past
five years, the burden of

maintaining the usion that
timely, high quality health
care still exists in this coun-
try, has largely fallen on the
shoulders of beleaguered
doctors, nurses and others
working in the system,

Much of the job. stress
endured by these people aris-
es from their daily struggles
to mitigate the effects on
patients of institutional abdi-
cation of responsibility for
the system as a whole, At this
time of tederal budget sur-
pluses, it is unconscionable
that this situation be allowed
to continue.

Many suggest that these
problems are proof that
Medicare is a failure and that
what is needed are both pub-
lic and private insurance sys-
tems. This conclusion is both
dangerous and unreasonable.

It is illogical to expect
that the administration and
coordination of two health-
care systems could mean any-
thing but more bureaucracy,
less efficiency and higher cost
averall than ene well-man-
aged public system.

Any secondary public sys-

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.. We must
advocate for a new
set of priorities that
will re-establish
public confidence
in the system ... ”

tem serving primarily the
poor would be extremely vul-
nerable to mismanagement
and underfunding due to this
group’s marginalized politi-
cal status.

Actuarial data supports
the face that the broadest
spreading of risk in) an
insured population results in
the most efficient, highest
quality service to all beneti-
ciaries.

Rather than abandoning
our commitment to
Medicare, and thereby let-
ting governments walk away
trom their legal contract with
the Canadian people to pro-
vide universal, high quality
health care, we must advo-
cate for a new set of priorities
that will re-establish public
confidence in the system.

First and most important,
over the next 12 to 18
months, fund the care
required for all those cur-
rently on waiting lists.

Those requiring care most

urgently should have the
option for assessment and
treatment in the U.S. at pub-
lic expense. The rest should

be served via operation of

and treatment
facilities in Canada during
weekend and evening hours.
HW staff must be imported
from elsewhere to accom.
plish this, so be it.

Second, provide more svs-
ten transparency and
accountability ior agencies,
care providers and patients
by establishing health-care
ombudsmans” offices at the
federal and provincial levels
patterned on existing
ombudsman agencies here
and in the U.S.

Shocking as it may sound,
a recent American study (as
reported on CBC AM, fan.
24) revealed that in the U.S.,
over 40,000 peuple die as a
result of medication and
other medical error each
year. Even: more shocking is
the fact that no comparable
statistics are being kept in
Canada to track this problem
but there is little reason to
think that we do better.

Any other service with a
similar quality control /safety
record would be subjected to
immediate, intense public
scrutiny and the health-care
system shoald not be
exempted.

Three, free up acute and
long-term care beds by

ur ailing health system

granting direct subsidies and
tax breaks to biologic and
surrogate families of the dis-
abled and infirm elderly.

Ht is ridiculous to expect,
in this era of single-parent
dual-income families, chat
biologic families will be capa-
bie of caring for their dis-
abled or infirm relatives with-
out direct: government: sup-
port.

Four, make it simpler and
more attractive for individual
and corporate donors to sup-
port health-care facilities and
services at the local level by
granting a tax credit of two
or three dollars for every dol-
lar donated to health care
aceds. This would allow for
increased local spending
power and would help to
replace millions of dollars of
lost government funding.

While Mr. Rock’s inten-
tions are laudable, his pre-
scription for the system
amounts to administering an
aspirin to 4 patient who has
already suffered cardiac
arrest.

What is needed today —
not next May — is a financial
and strategic commitment on
the part of governments and
administrators to restore the
existing system to health. .
When chat is accomplished,
we can discuss other changes.

— Jessica Tichenor is a reg-
istered nurse who writes from
North Vancouver.

www.nsnews.com

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