The Cornwall Health Coalition is having an urgent town hall meeting next week in order to discuss the budget deficit that will result in service cuts to Cornwall Community Hospital.
They’ve invited MPP Jim Brownell and members of the hospital’s board.
This is a public meeting so it’s encouraged that you to share information and ask questions.
When? Wednesday, February 3rd @ 7pm
Where? Royal Canadian Legion, 415 2nd Street
Speaking at the meeting will be:
Cornwall Health Coalition Co-Chairs– Diane Morin and Elaine Macdonald
Ontario Health Coalition Director– Natalie Mehra
For more information please call Elaine Macdonald 613-938-7763
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We need to get the best service that we can for the patients, even if we don’t have enough money by todays standards. Lets not cut services or beds in the hospital, lets cut salaries of some of those big-salaried people, including administrators, doctors and specialists.
They took an oath, the Hippocratic Oath, to uphold a number of professional ethical standards and to ethically practice medicine. Why does everything go out of the window where money is concerned?
Why should we suffer the pangs and arrows of outrageous fortune just because they’re greedy?
Ontarian I think if Canadians were asked most would want to preserve and make Medicare work. It’s time to fight big style American Health Care’s attempts to destroy our medicare system and stop our politicians from dumping medical services to drug care which many times isn’t covered here in Ontario by OHIP.
That’s just wrong and I don’t think it’s what voters or taxpayers want.
Maybe it’s time for the Medicare Party of Canada?
What we really need to do is to ask the difficult question, which is what services actually create the outcomes of health and quality of life. While well meaning, actions of organizations such as the “Health” Coalition actually solidify a culture of “sick care,” that is heavy on expensive treatments. As a society, we have become addicted to “free” disease treatments that in reality do nothing to promote health and in most cases destroy it. Research demonstrates the more medical treatments we receive, the worse our quality of life gets – even if the treatment was deemed successful!
For those really concerned about the sustainable health of our population it is time to first lead by example and then champion initiatives that move towards what we want instead of trying to fight what we fear. In fact, we can never get what we want by trying to avoid what we don’t want.
Recently during the Glen Stor Lodge story here in Cornwall several people mentioned that there was no cost to Cornwall as the province paid for the medication. What wasn’t said until recently is that for those prescribed treatments or medication “NOT COVERED” their expenses went up.
The system needs an 100% overhaul with a focus on more cost efficient efforts made in preventative care and treatment. Big Drugs companies and Insurance companies are bleeding our system dry. I doubt we get 25 cents on the dollar in value right now.
An example is Sleep Apenea, which I know as I am a sleep apnea patient. In Ontario, right here in Cornwall, all of the firms essentially charge the same amount for a machine and mask. Patients are forced to pay 25%, but what we’re not told is that the province is allowing these companies to charge inflated prices. Why?
Why can I order with no discount or favor the exact same equipment down to the model number from the US for about half of what we’re charged here? Surely the medicare system should be making things more cost efficient by the pure size of a province’s purchasing power? Why should we here be forced to pay for something prescribed by a doctor at all? And if we have to pay for this why should we be forced to pay a monopolized and inflated price?
And this is one example. People need to focus more on probably the single largest expenditure by our governments; health care. Look to the US. That’s what’s slowly going to happen to Canada if we don’t fight to get our politicians to support and overhaul the medicare system in Canada.
And if the politician we have in office won’t do anything let’s find some that will.
There is no politician in any of the big 3 parties who will ever be willing to make any kind of fundamental change in “health care” policy. It would be political suicide. Canadians are addicted to “free” treatment so we never have to take any personal responsibility. Politicians are addicted to the trade of favours that keeps them in power. This is my opinion – and I hope I am wrong – but the only way for the system to REALLY change will be for the system to collapse through some sort of crisis. Likely this crisis will be tied to North America’s financial situation. Only when the present system collapses will there be an opportunity to replace it with something not only more efficient, but something that will deliver real results, not just treatments.
There is an excellent book called the The Fourth Turning, by Strauss and Howe who through studying history believe that we are about to experience a general crisis in the near future, followed by a reorganization that will take us to the next level. Hopefully replacing “sick care” with true “health care” will be part of that process.
Just had a look at the 2008 – 2009 annual report for the Cornwall Community Hospital on-line, anyone care to guess at how much of the budget goes to compensation? Anyone? 70.22% !
A reduction in people is really needed. Not the ones who actually take your temperature either, but people get their back against the wall very quickly on this subject making change difficult.
Special interest groups are not helping the vast majority of us.
Eric I think any government department that would be reviewed could find some fat to trim. I just can’t imagine any of the current party’s having the testicular fortitude to do so…..