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Quebec
MONTREAL --
Roll over Ralph
Klein With all
the talk of Wild West Alberta's freewheeling economy
and the threatening reforms to Canada's healthcare system,
it's easy to overlook the fact that Montreal has quietly
become the private healthcare capital of Canada -- and
by quite a margin. Montreal's private medical clinics
offer a wide range of services to those patients willing
to shell out hard cash to bypass the public system.
Many experts like Vancouver orthopedic specialist Dr
Brian Day, a proponent of privatized medicine, says
that Quebec will be a leader in the transformation of
Canada's healthcare system because only Quebec has the
autonomy to do it. DB
New Brunswick
SAINT JOHN --
Take up
thy bed and go home The
NB government is planning to update its triage system
for heart patients being transferred to Saint John for
surgery. The government will work with the New Brunswick
Heart Centre in the port city to merge its community
and in-patient waiting lists. The desired effect is
to reduce the incidence of patients biding their time
in a hospital bed when they could otherwise wait safely
for diagnosis and treatment at home. Detractors of the
scheme point out that the survival rate for heart attacks
is much better while in hospital. Dr Peter Docherty,
chief of medical staff at the neighbouring South-East
Regional Health Authority, has reservations about the
changes, noting that "more of a concern is, will they
have an event while they're at home?" SB
Nova Scotia
HALIFAX -- Helping
out his people Responding
to criticism that the need for an MRI in the Halifax
region was being overlooked in favour of other areas
of the province, including his own riding, Premier John
Hamm has pledged a new machine for the capital area.
Several months ago, Minister Hamm, who is a doctor,
announced MRIs for four small-town hospitals, including
one located in his Pictou constituency, despite a consultant's
report that made a new unit for the Halifax area the
priority. BH
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Prince Edward Island
SUMMERSIDE --
Consensual
controversy A
recent study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information
revealed that 62 patients in Canada died while waiting
for organ transplants in the short period between July
and September last year. Few know the agony of waiting
for an organ transplant and the dire shortage of organ
donors better than PEI man Gordon MacFarlane, a young
father of 27 suffering from primary sclerosing cholangitis,
who is waiting for a liver transplant. Mr MacFarlane
has become an advocate and crusader for presumed consent,
a controversial system whereby the individual must opt
out of giving up their organs rather than consenting
on their driver's licence. SB
Newfoundland
ST JOHN'S -- Fighting
infections gets a boost Children
and adolescents in the province now have more protection
against infectious diseases, thanks to a new cash booster
from the health ministry. Health and Community Services
Minister John Ottenheimer announced that the province
will invest $6.5 million over three years to add vaccines
against pneumonia, chicken pox and meningitis to the
public immunization program. This money is in addition
to the $3 million the province spends annually on childhood
immunizations to protect against nine other diseases
such as polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella.
DSS
The Territories
IQALUIT, NU/YELLOWKNIFE,
NWT/ WHITEHORSE, YK -- A
matter of life and death According
to a recent Statistics Canada study of life-expectancy
rates in regions of Canada, the residents of Nunavut
live 68.7 years on average, making this region the shortest-lived
territory or province. In the Northwest Territories,
residents live an average of 76.2 years, while the Yukon's
life-expectancy rate is 76.8 years. Statscan links significantly
higher rates of infant mortality and unintentional injuries
to the low life expectancy in Canada's youngest territory.
JG
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