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British
Columbia
VANCOUVER —
BC welcomes
immigrant doctors One day after international
medical graduates (IMGs) in Vancouver voiced their concerns
about limited access to supplementary training, Federal
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh made a timely announcement
that should make IMGs and overworked Canadian-trained
doctors alike happy. Mr Dosanjh proclaimed that a $75
million financial injection will help underemployed
IMGs across the nation, including hundreds in BC, be
expedited into the healthcare system. At present BC
accepts only six places for IMGs in medical schools
compared to 200 in Ontario. LD
Alberta
CALGARY —
Bridge-building,
Klein style Wavering between fury and conciliation
at the same time, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein warned
Prime Minister Paul Martin that he's tired of being
a scapegoat for the Liberals and being painted as some
kind of healthcare antichrist. "I can tell you, his
attacks on me... are more than offensive. They are dangerous,"
he stated, chastising the PM for fear-mongering. Premier
Klein said he's injected $700 million into the healthcare
system in the last year but made no significant reforms.
He took the opportunity to gently remind Mr Martin that
Canadians have to work together. GE
Saskatchewan
YORKTON-MELVILLE
— Abortion
funding under fire In support of Saskatchewan
pro-life activist groups, Yorkton-Melville MP Garry
Breitkreuz has called upon the government to halt public
funding of 'medically unnecessary' abortions. Questioning
Canada's current blanket coverage of abortion procedures,
Mr Breitkreuz requested a reassessment of the policy.
"If no government, federal, provincial or territorial,
has completed a risk/ benefit analysis on abortion,"
he wondered, "how can they claim they are all medically
necessary and 'therapeutic'?" TJ
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Manitoba
BRANDON —
Number crunching
blues After spending some time in the counting
house, Brandon Regional Health Authority chief executive
officer Carmel Olson is seeing red over a $2.7 million
hole in the 2005-06 budget. Mr Olson pointed out that
the budget is in the red due to rising administrative
costs, but made assurances that the books will balanced
by the June 1 deadline — with no cuts to programs
or services. When the Tory opposition criticized the
ruling NDP for reckless administrative spending, Mr
Olson responded, "There is a shortage of specialists...
and we do spend money in recruitment." HA
Ontario
FORT FRANCES —
Primary care reform
in action Fort Frances is a pioneering town,
one of the first in Ontario to experience the challenge
of setting up a Family Health Group in a small community.
Dr Elaine Spencer, president of the Fort Frances Clinic,
has posted a nurse in the waiting room to explain the
new health team concept to patients and to register
them if they wish. The essential 'catch' to the Family
Health Teams, part of the recently ratified Ontario
physician contract deal, is the push to get docs to
move toward rostered patients. "The only significant
gain for family doctors requires them to have some sort
of patient roster," another local doctor, Dr Robert
Algie, noted. "It's here to stay." JJM
OTTAWA
— Vasectomy
not catastrophe Apart from castration, there
are few procedures that cause a man to shake in his
boots more than a vasectomy, despite reassurances from
MDs that it's nothing more than a quick routine snip.
Dr Ronald Weis, an Ottawa FP, has a couple of innovations
that can help in this area. He uses a technique he calls
a "virtual needle" in which a local anesthetic spray
painlessly penetrates the scrotal skin, working faster
than a needle and without the pain. He reveals his tricks
of the trade in the May issue of the Journal of Urology.
JJM
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