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Quebec
QUEBEC
— RAMQing it through Rent
subsidies paid by landlord pharmacists to physicians is a hot topic in the Quebec
legislature. Pharmacies in the province pay such perks to encourage docs to set
up practices in their buildings. PQ MLA Sylvain Simard said the provincial health
insurance agency (RAMQ) already funds MD administration costs to the tune of $200
million, and asked the Liberal government if they're demanding refunds from docs
who pay no rent. Health Minister Philippe Couillard responded that administration
costs are negotiated with physician associations, not individual MDs. DB MONtREAL
— Horn-locking hospitals
University of Montreal Rector, Robert Lacroix, proposed an expanded French- language
teaching hospital on the site of the old CP rail yard in the borough of Outremont,
to co-habit with the new CHUM hospital. However, critics fear that the new plan
could come at the expense of McGill University's planned teaching hospital, set
to be constructed in downtown Montreal. DB MONtREAL
— More drugs less hugs
Jean-Pierre Duplantie, director of Montreal's French-language youth protection
agency is concerned by what he sees as an overprescribing of drugs to young patients.
"We're worried about the growing number of children on medication," he said. Mr
Duplantie would like to see a multidisciplinary approach to treating mental health,
allowing kids to see psychiatrists more quickly. His wish just might be granted
— Jean-Bernard Trudeau, who was appointed by the province to head a committee
on modernizing medicine, says the Quebec government is set to announce a reorganization
of its mental health services. DB New
Brunswick
MONCTON — Like
a surgeon New Brunswick's minister of health, Elvy Robichaud, announced
that more job cuts are coming to NB health. Robichaud didn't say how many jobs
would be slashed, but he said that the affected posts will include payroll, janitorial
and hospital kitchen staff. Mr Robichaud says the moves will save the government's
healthcare budget $46 million. DB Nova
Scotia
HALIFAX — Big
bucks for research Thanks to federal grants, the research coffers at Dalhousie
University and the IWK Health Centre will swell by almost $4 million over the
next five years. Areas of study getting a piece of the pie include development
of resistance-free antibiotics, the role of neurotransmitters in Alzheimer's disease,
and the relationship between sleep deprivation and chronic pain. Dalhousie President
Tom Traves says the funding "is truly a testament to the vibrancy of the life
sciences sector in Nova Scotia." BH
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Prince Edward Island
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Stealing the moonlight Health
and Social Services Minister Chester Gillan has denied ER doctors the opportunity
to freelance at private clinics. Mr Gillan claimed during question period that
full-time docs have contracts that bar them from taking on outside work. He cited
burnout and maintenance of skill level as his main reason for being concerned
with MD moonlighting. Opposition leader Robert Ghiz countered by saying that the
doctor crisis on the island is acute, as 8000 Islanders are without a GP, and
so there's an urgent need for access to public clinics. BW
Newfoundland
ST
JOHN'S — Corporate cancer cash
Pfizer Canada donated $100,000 toward research into improving the quality of care
for cancer patients. The Newfoundland Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation's
"Seamless Care Outcomes Assessment Project" will look at the outcome of patients
cared for with normal current practice and compare them with patients treated
with a new intervention strategy. The new strategy focuses on doctor cooperation
with community pharmacists and other healthcare providers. The project will look
at about 200 patients and is set to start in early 2005. DSS ST
JOHN'S — Tragic suicide stats
The rate of attempted suicide among Labrador Innu adolescents was 17 times
the rate for the entire province between 1998 to 2000, according to a report released
by the province's Centre for Health Information. There were 234 attempted suicides
in the 10 to 19 age group provincewide. The report claimed the provincial per-capita
suicide rate was 104.4 per 100,000 — but among Labrador's Innu youth, the
suicide rate was a shocking 1,814 per 100,000. Four Innu youth in the community
of Natuashish committed suicide earlier this year. DSS
The Territories
WHITEHORSE
— Rejecting autism precedent
Despite a recent supreme court decision that found the BC government is
not responsible for certain expensive kinds of autism treatment, Yukon Minister
of Health and Social Services David Jenkins says that the territory will continue
to support families beset with autism. In autumn 2003, the Yukon government earmarked
over half a million dollars over three years to help children with autism. SB WHITEHORSE
— Yukon vice Good news
has arrived for Northern citizens fed up with their streets overtaken by drugs,
prostitution and all manners of public health-threatening vice. An NDP motion
pledging to combat drug abuse in the territory was passed unanimously in the legislature.
With this motion passed, the Yukon government is obliged to host a territory-wide
summit on substance abuse, where an action plan will hammered out. SB
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