By Matthew Clark
Of all the changes I have witnessed within Canada in my lifetime (1958 to the present) perhaps the most dramatic is in the health system (industry). This has occurred not only in the system itself, it also includes the people employed by the health sector.
During my youth Canada had a private healthcare approach requiring every family doctor to be responsible for researching all applications and prescription drugs involving their practice. Based on this research family physicians made the decision(s) on how to treat their patient(s). This approach served my own parents, and my younger brother well. My brother was born in the year(s) of the Thamaldahide babies. Our family doctor read reports on the Thamaldahide drug (which was suppose to prevent morning sickness in pregnant women) and decided the medicine had not undergone enough research. Therefore he did not pass the prescription drug unto my mom! As a result my brother was born physically healthy, free to torment all who knew him.
Another memory I have of general practitioners is that of Dr. Reeves in Eganville, Ontario. When I was about 8 years of age my mother brought me into his office (which was located in the Reeve home) a few hours after she called for the appointment. After a 45 minute examination Doctor Reeves explained to her what ailment he believed I had, and how to treat it. Mom then asked how much she owed him? "Two dollars," he said firmly. When she gave him a ten dollar bill she saw him open his desk drawer and pull out 4 two dollar bills to give her her change. Dr. Reeves was charging all his patients two dollars. Even in 1965 two dollars was not a lot of money. Yet Dr. Reeves had a nice house, a cottage, and raised four children.
When we resided in the province of Quebec my brother once pulled the tea pot off the kitchen table, scalding his arm as the hot tea splashed all over it. It was a Sunday afternoon. There was not 911 back then (roughly 1964). Fortunately there was a doctor living across the road (again his office was located in his home). My mom and dad rushed across the road to the doctor who accepted the call even though it was the Sabbath day. The doctor knew no English, my folks no French, nevertheless they persevered. The good doctor cleaned my brothers arm, bandaged it, then sent them on their way with some anti-septic. He refused a cheque for payment, directing them to drop off a very affordable $10.00 the next day.
In my sisters home there is a copy of the February 14, 1962 edition of the Toronto Star newspaper. It was a gift from my sister to her husband who was born in Toronto on that day. At the bottom of the front page is a headline claiming that 2 per cent of Torontonians cannot afford private health care. The Star, perhaps the most liberal institution in Canada back then, is outraged. Imagine two per cent of people in Toronto being unable to pay for private health care. It does not take much imagination to realize a far higher percentage of Canadians in our contemporary times cannot afford public health care.
Towards the end of the Covid lockdowns I had an experience which outlines how drastic a change in morality that Ontario's (Canada) healthcare providers have undergone. It was summertime and the doctor who performed a double hernia operation on me in 2015 called me in for an annual examination to ensure the hernia had not resplit. He set up the appointment for 6:30 a.m. in the hospital where the procedure had been conducted. This was a matter of convenience for the doctor as he could conduct examinations on previous patients then rush into the OR and operate on current patients. I was to gain entrance to the hospital therough the Emergency Room. The hospital was in a small community in the Lower Ottawa Valley.
As was my usual habit I showed up early to the Emergency room, approxiametely 6:15 a.m. To my surprise the Emergency Room was closed. A sign said it would open at 6:30 a.m. Thankfully the sliding entrance door opened, triggering a bell while doing so. I walked into the empty Emergency Department and was greeted by a very attractive nurse with a thick Scottish burr. She was located in another room from which she watched me behind a slender pane of glass. Explaining what I was there for the nurse listened, then instructed me to take a seat until the administrator and doctor arrived at 6:30 a.m.
Several moments later a young mother, towing a young boy, arrived at the sliding door. This time the door did not work, it would not slide open. It was obvious the child was not well. I walked over to the door to assist. Magically it opened causing mother and son to come charging into the Emergency Room. Again the bell went off. Again the Scottish nurse came to the glass. After listening to the mother she instructed them to take a seat until the administrator and doctor arrived at 6:30. Before heading off the nurse flashed me an irritated glance.
Quickly the Emergency Department filled up with sick patients. In each case the sliding doors had to be opened from the inside. It turns out my doctor triple booked his appointments, 3 at 6:30, 3 at 6:35 etc. I learnt this from listening to each arrival explain to the Scottish nurse why they were there. Eventually I figured out why the nurse was so annoyed with me. She had forgot to lock the sliding door before my arrival. This was corrected after my entrance yet, probably for fire safety reasons, people inside the hospital must be able to exit the sliding door. Therefore anyone can open the door from the inside. So when she did correct her oversight and locked the door, I accidentally messed up her corrections by opening the door from the inside.
By the time the administrator made an appearance at 6:50 a.m. the Emergency Department was jammed packed. My doctor saw me at 7:25 a.m., asking me if I felt the hernias pulling? When the answer was no he sent me on my way, the question, and answer, satisfying his ability to charge the provincal government his appointment fee, which was undoubtedly at least several hundred dollars. Exiting through the Emergency Room (by now a familar route for me) I heard the administrator promising waiting patients that the doctor should be arriving any minute. She insisted on calm, ignoring any individuals who pointed out the doctor was already an hour late.
My considerable relief at bidding adieu to the hospital turned to astonishment when I read a banner hanging from the side of the building. Somehow I had missed it coming in. There was no missing it now. WE SALUTE OUR HEALTH CARE WORKERS, it read, WE'RE AWESOME!
This episode is true of Ontario's ( and most probably all of Canada's) Government run Centralized Health Care Operation. Our healthcare workers are awesome, irregardless of their lack of accomplishment.
Recently the doctor at my clinic diagnosed me with a racing heartbeat. He claims I am in danger of a heart attack or a stroke. Years of long distance running should have resulted in a strong heart. At one time this appeared to be the case. Nevertheless last October I had a routine colonoscopy, necessary due to family history. During the procedure my heart apparently ran amok. Since then the situation has gotten worse as one failed drug after another was prescribed to me. Eventually on my own I stopped taking the medications as they only made the situation worse.
Three weeks ago my physician said he would arrange for testing to see if I had a heart blockage. For two weeks there was no word. When I called the clinic to push the matter along I ended up waiting on the phone, listening to awful music for up to 50 minutes before finally giving up. Email is not a solution as the clinic will only take change of address emails, nothing to do with patient health. If a doctor sends an email they always end it by closing the conversation, thereby preventing return emails.
Two and a half weeks after the appointment with the doctor I managed to get through to a receptionist at the clinic. She informed me a letter on my behalf had been sent to a specialist. There was no committment on when I would be contacted.
My clinic is rumoured to have 25,000 customers (patients?). It's health practitioners are so prescription happy one wonders if the medical employees get a kickback for assigned medication. In general Canada's government run medical system has few good success stories. It's best performance appears to be in the area of MEDICALLY ASSISTED SUICIDE! Since 2016 44,958 Canadians have been killed by a doctor. (source: fourth report on assisted suicide Canada.ca) In a strange form of "Death Worship" many physicians express moral fulfillment from doing their patients in!
It appears doubtful that the health sector can be salvaged as long as the government ( it matters not which level of government) operates, and regulates medical practice. Government is about power. When it controls medicine it eventually puts in place very counter productive practices. Eventually dysfunction evolves into corruption, then into malevolence. Canada's health workers are not awesome, and her doctors malpractice on a daily basis. As a result Canadian medicines greatest success is in killing patients!
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