The media jumps on health indicator studies — especially
the gloomy ones — with particular vigour. The Conference
Board of Canada's latest report, Healthy Provinces, Healthy
Canadians, is no exception. Headlines include "BC tops
in health, Manitoba at bottom" and "Full system failure."
The declarations, although true, lack context — leaving
many misinformed. The Conference Board, an economic think
tank, claim their findings are 'crucial' and will help
guide governments in setting best practice. Good intentions,
yes. But good intentions are not what we need.
Everyone knows healthcare will
go down the tubes if things don't change. Wait times
are long and there are too few doctors. In order to
solve these problems governments need to implement new
models of care. Programs that will help with the delivery
of services to citizens in remote regions — say
northern Manitoba — would be a start. Governments
have to be willing to restructure funding to give more
incentives to physicians. They need to forget theoretical
health indicators and get real. They should be asking
you, the doctors in the trenches, how to solve our problems.
Only then will we see the state of our healthcare system
improve and subsequently the health of all Canadians.
— Julia Cyboran,
managing editor
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