Health files
A round-up of who is saying what about public health care.
Canadian Federation of Nurses Union president suggests strategies for ending nursing crisis
“To stop nurses from quitting, going part-time or retiring early, and ensure safe patient care, nurses’ working conditions must be improved . . . Nurses are also recommending the federal government establish a collaborative health workforce council of provincial and territorial health ministries. This council would be mandated to improve local and regional health workforce planning and capacity building,” wrote Linda Silas, president, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (a CHC member organization) in the Toronto Star, Jan. 1, 2023.
Cost-cutting wrong way to go, says Canadian Medical Association president
“The reason why we’re in the situation that we’re in, I think, is because over the past couple of decades we’ve been really focused on cost-cutting as a solution to our health-care problems . . . Provincial and territorial governments have implemented approaches that have really focused on the cost per volume of procedures and appointments and … as a result we’ve lost a lot of the bandwidth that we used to have when it came to spikes in demand,” said Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Alika Lafontaine to CBC News, Jan. 2, 2023.
Ontario Medical Association says virtual walk-in clinics may contribute more strain to health care system
“Virtual-only walk-in clinics may actually be resulting in more churn, more cost to our system,” said Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician at Toronto’s St. Michael Hospital and senior author of a preliminary study comparing patients who visited their family doctors virtually with people who visited a virtual-only clinic, to CBC News, Dec. 16, 2022.
Pharmaceutical company CEO third-highest paid in Canada
“It’s worth figuring out who are the winners and who are the losers in our economy. . . Think of inflation as bad for everyone else and not bad for CEO,” said David Macdonald, senior economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) to the Toronto Star, Jan. 3, 2023. The CCPA report shows Joseph C. Papa, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Baushch Health Companies Inc., as the third-highest paid CEO in Canada in 2021 at $28,691,533.
Some provinces give pharmacists new prescriptive powers
“Pharmacies are trying to do a lot with limited resources. . . Appropriate funding is a key part of ensuring that these expanded services are not only sustainable but utilized by the public. . . As a national association, we’ve heard time and time again from pharmacists that they want to practise to their full scope,” said Danielle Paes, chief pharmacist officer of the Canadian Pharmacists Association, to CTV News Vancouver, Jan. 2, 2023.
Multiple emergency rooms close in Newfoundland-Labrador
“If you don’t have the foundation of a strong health care system, it affects your town; it affects your region. . . It’s heartbreaking to see what that facility has become compared to what it was when we had our five doctors… That facility has saved a lot of lives, it’s treated a lot of people, made a lot of people comfortable,” said Michael Tiller, paramedic and mayor of New-Wes-Valley, to CBC News, Jan. 3, 2023.
