Does Halifax get its own Mayo Clinic?

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil's remonstrations in the legislature this month condemning a year-old memo from some Capital District Health Authority physicians proposing a new, doctor-driven, private-public, "Mayo Clinic-like" hospital facility in metro were an emblematic example of the sort of backward, stick-in-the-mud attitudes and reactionary, tunnel-vision thinking that keep Nova Scotia an underachieving backwater.

McNeil trotted out the customary boilerplate about defending the sacrosanct public health care system from the evils of profit motive or market accountability, trotting out the old FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about privatization of health care delivery leading to (horrors!) - two-tiered health care, with NDP leader Darrell Dexter chiming in with his labour-union constituency's pet trope about private hospitals and clinics supposedly luring doctors and nurses away from the public system.

The 2006 memo, reportedly authored and signed by Capital Health surgeon Robert Stone, lays out a concept for clinics or centres that "should not be staffed by 'unionized' personnel

It would focus on providing endoscopy; breast health services; prostate therapy; various other diagnostics; orthopedic surgery, other same-day surgeries, and executive preventive health - all procedures that do not require the facilities of a fully-equipped and staffed, acute-care surgical hospital.
For which there is a strong demand that isn't being met in a timely fashion by the current public system, and which helps keep waiting lists long for other, more complex surgeries and treatments.

It's just, plain inefficient and a misuse of scarce resources.

Read the full story here

Another story from a client of our great health care system

"Here's yet another positive story, after last week's story from Mofi about the Canadian Health care system:"

"Two significant things happened to me last week. I turned 39 and I found out I need total hip replacement surgery. These are two things that I never dreamed would happen within a decade of each other, let alone a week.

I've had some issues with my right hip most of my adult life, but never imagined that I had osteoarthritis and that my hip joint was deteriorating out from under me. My dad had both his knees replaced, but that didn't happen until he was in his late 60s.

Finding out that you need this kind of surgery is a shock at first. I felt a little embarrassed to be so young and need something like this. After some research, however, I realized more and more young people are having the surgery.

Former U.S. Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton had her hip replaced at the age of 38. And world-famous tennis champion Jimmy Connors had his hip replaced at 52. Both athletes reported being debilitated by their pain and then regaining their full quality of life after the surgery.

So, now that I am beyond the shock and embarrassment, I find myself in a state of amazement at just how far we have come in medicine and how great Canada's health system is. Had I been born in my grandmother's era, I would be facing a life of pain and the inevitability of a wheelchair. Now, just like something out of the 1970's Bionic Woman series, they tell you "we have the power to rebuild you." Maybe not better or faster than I was before, but with much less pain and much more mobility.

I know we all get frustrated with our wait times, but if we compare our system with those around the world, we have one of the best. Two things always enter my mind when I am accessing our health care system: the incredible care givers I have, and the cost of my care.

My family doctor is Dawn Edgar. She has been caring for me for about 12 years and knows everything about me, so my health care is personal and focused and I realize how lucky I am to have her.

As soon as my hip acted up she got me in to see Reginald Yabsley. He was the first orthopedic surgeon to do hip replacements in Nova Scotia. How lucky we are to have someone like him in Halifax.

His bedside manner is second to none. He has a no-nonsense, pragmatic approach that completely put me at ease. Through the entire appointment I felt informed and respected as we figured out my next move.

My feelings of comfort and joy stem not only from being in the hands of these two excellent doctors, but from not having to ask the question: How much will this cost?

I know that while I will wait for the surgery, I will be able to have it based on my need, not on what I can afford. So this holiday season I will be saying an extra prayer for all those care givers in our system who help us maintain our quality of life and for a system that is based on need, and not greed."

Candy Palmater for HFXNEWS

Premier MacDonald of Nova Scotia pushing Private Healthcare

Premier Rodney MacDonald came under fire from critics yesterday for raising the specter of private healthcare in discussing the need for "strategic partnerships" with the private sector.

MacDonald made the remarks during his State of the Province address before the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He told the crowd of about 400 business people that the province wants to push ahead with publicly funded, privately run clinics offering such services as cataract surgery and hip replacements.

Some people need to overcome their "paranoia" about the private sector and embrace the kinds of partnerships working in other provinces, he said, referring to assisted living facilities in British Columbia.

Ambulance service

He pointed to the success of public services delivered privately in Nova Scotia already, such as our world-renowned ambulance service. MacDonald said the province will only proceed if it's in the best interest of the public. It has learned from its "failed experiment" in P3 schools, but wants to explore public-private partnerships for other infrastructure.

MacDonald told reporters after his speech that the plan could mean introducing legislation this spring that would be similar to legislation in Manitoba and Alberta. Government would continue to respect the Canada Health Act, he added.

"I am not in favour of queue jumping by individuals, nor am I in favour of the people who waited too long for appropriate procedures and surgeries. So we need to be more innovative, and that means working more with the private sector."

The Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network argues that allowing for-profit clinics to operate sets a dangerous precedent. Members claim the province is promoting a "flawed plan" that will lead to higher costs and jeopardize access to health-care services.

The opposition is critical

Both opposition parties slammed yesterday's announcement.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said the impact on human resources is his biggest concern.

"We have emergency rooms across this province that are not actually operating to capacity. Yet here we have a premier calling on the private sector to build a new one."

NDP Leader Darrell Dexter called MacDonald's speech "extraordinarily defensive" and said the ambulance example is a poor one because the service is delivered by a not-for-profit group.

In yesterday's address, MacDonald also restated his desire for a financial-services center in downtown Halifax, saying a lack of Class A building space is scaring business away.

The Daily News