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Quebec
QUEBEC —
Doctors sans options
Talk to virtually any medical resident in the
province of Quebec, and you'll likely hear the same
grievance. The Federation of Medical Residents claims
Quebec's policy of forcing doctors to start their careers
in rural areas — or else pay for their urban life
with a 30% pay cut is the top reason that more young
docs than ever are considering leaving the province.
Physician starved hospitals elsewhere in Canada and
in the US are taking advantage of their discontent.
A recent job fair in Montreal saw hundreds of out-of-province
hospitals offering tantalizing recruitment offers to
young Quebec medics. BW
MONTREAL
— Superhospital
soap opera The seemingly endless debate about
where to build the new French superhospital wages on
with four days of public hearings at the National Assembly
this month. Unlike most hearings, witnesses will appear
by invitation only. No unions or community groups have
been invited to speak, which union leaders say makes
it an unfair representation of Montrealers' needs. Once
the hearings conclude, Premier Jean Charest and his
cabinet will decide where to build the hospital —
either the well-heeled enclave, Outremont, or the more
central St Luc Hospital site. CS
New
Brunswick
MONCTON —
A penny for the
carers? Trudy Paulin, like many middle-aged Canadian
adults, realizes that raising her children and simultaneously
taking care of her 94-year-old mother is quite literally
a fulltime job. Mrs Paulin feels so strongly about the
subject that she's formed the Association for the Remuneration
of Family Caregivers, to seek financial compensation
from the government for carers. While Tony Huntjens,
New Brunswick's Minister of Family and Community Services,
admits people like Mrs Paulin do save the government
money, he says it would be too expensive to consider
compensation at this point. SB
Nova
Scotia
KENTVILLE —
An apple a day
in Apple Blossom country A study released by
the Canadian Institute for Health Information gives
a thumbs up to the lunch and snack menus of 12 Annapolis
Valley schools. The menus, which offer fresh fruits
and vegetables and healthier snacks, have resulted in
markedly fewer overweight and obese students, compared
to students elsewhere in the province. The study, published
in the American Journal of Public Health, found that
among the kids partaking of the healthy menu obesity
rates were 72% lower and overweight 60% lower than other
kids of the same age in the province. BH
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Hot
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Prince Edward Island
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Ah,
the pleasures of indoor smoking You've heard
of the 'Love Shack' and perhaps even the 'Sugar Shack.'
Well, thanks to a recent PEI supreme court ruling, the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the largest on the island,
will be keeping its 'Smoke Shack,' a little enclosed
area where employees can get together for an indoor
fag. All this doesn't sit well with the government,
who in March of 2004 ordered the shack shut down based
on the smoke-free-places act, but the court has deemed
the structure legal. BW
Newfoundland
ST JOHN'S —
Docs to flee Rock
Thirteen per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador's
doctors plan to leave the province over the next two
years and 5% will retire, according to a survey conducted
by the CFPC, the CMA and the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada. Another 13% plan to reduce the
scope of their practice and 18% intend to reduce their
on-call hours. Dr Andrew Major, president of the province's
medical association, says without a plan to replace
these physicians, the healthcare system will be in a
"precarious position." DSS
The
Territories
RANKIN INLET,
NU — A
young life celebrated Christine Egan, a young
nurse who died in the September 11 World Trade Centre
attack, has been given official recognition for her
outstanding contribution to healthcare in Nunavut and
northern Manitoba. Ms Egan's family, friends and colleagues
have set up a trust fund in her memory to help prospective
Northern nursing students. Dr Bruce Martin, the director
of the University of Manitoba's Northern Medical Unit,
hopes a plaque commemorating her, which was unveiled
at the university on Monday, will inspire others to
continue her work. BW
Contributors:
Hector Andrews, Simon Biggar, Donna Byers, Lance Davies,
Geoff Everett, Brian Hoyle, Thane Jenkins,
Julie J. Mercier, Deana Stokes Sullivan, Carla Sparks and Brent Woodford.
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