About Health Care
The paramedics are on strike.
Give them what they want. They deserve it. And more.
There is much in our health care system to improve and change.
We spend too much on administrators and middle men, on pharmaceuticals and shrinks. We have failed to track in even the most basic ways what some supplies cost us; learn from retail about inventory.
We have way too many over-seers and boards and groups. We need to simplify and localize.
But having said all that, we must have one of the greatest health care systems on earth.
This is my second experience with paramedics, for example. The first was 25 years ago in Winnipeg in aid of my mother. Again, these folks are amazing. Knowledgeable, efficient, re-assuring, kind, and professional.
Whatever they are being paid, it's not enough.
The nurses at VGH in Emergency and Cardiac Care are astounding. Knowledgeable, efficient, re-assuring, kind and professional. This was my second visit to these wonderful people. If you should have the misfortune to be in need of their services, you will have the good fortune to be in their care.
The doctors and attendant technicians are equally laudable. Knowledgeable, efficient, re-assuring, kind and professional.
Twenty some years ago, people with angina died. Not always and not right away, but the mortality rate was high. Today, it barely measurable.
Even the technique of entering through the femoral artery to perform an angiogram and angioplasty has dramatically improved in the four years since my first experience. This time, thanks to a collagen plug in the wound, almost no post-op bleeding and certainly no post pain.
We can and must continue our vigilance in trying to bring down costs and improve our system every day in every way.
But simultaneously let us remember how lucky we are to have what we have.
4 comments:
David,
I share your sentiments about the good people who have chosen health care services for their calling. Recently I read, or heard on the news, that Canadians spend a lower percentage of GDP on our health care system than does the USA. While I'm sure that there are efficiencies and cost savings that we can make, I hope that we don't make the mistake of privatizing health care and allowing for a greater role by insurance companies in managing health care costs. I can live without the dividends that insurance companies provide to their shareholders.
DC
David, my wife is one of those CCU nurses at VGH. She began at that hospital a few months more than 40 years ago, in the days of starched uniforms with caps and uncomfortable shoes. The care you received is similar for everyone, rich or poor, public figure or not. Healthcare is a team effort involving diverse people whose greatest reward is seeing patients regain health. I'm sure the staff appreciates your kind comments and, like your blog readers, want you only to return to visit.
I had my own hospital experience a while back for a total knee joint replacement, followed by weeks of physiotherapy. It was for me a small miracle. After more than a year, I'm still amazed at how different life is without chronic pain.
We really should take great pride in our medical system. Some would love to privatize and follow the American road, even if that means denying medical care to tens of thousands and paying a per capita cost higher than we do today.
Medical services are expensive but every family from young to old is affected positively. We enjoy a system that puts British Columbians among the longest lived people in the world. If you want that to continue, make your choice carefully in the next election.
Sorry David, off topic...what happened at the Langar Dialogues (on the DTES) the other night? I couldn't make it , unfortunately...
The Langara Dialogues went very well...good turnout...terrifc speakers...some lively diagreement...
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