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Hot
Spot
Specialists put
pressure on QC
QUEBEC CITY —
The row between the province's specialists and the government
heated up last week when the specialists' federation
ran a series of fullpage ads in prominent daily newspapers.
The ads, which appeared in the Gazette, Le Devoir
and La Presse, read, "Cancer frightens you, so
should our healthcare system." Health Minister Philippe
Couillard called the ads "deplorable" and "unethical."
Quebec specialists want the Liberals to honour their
promise of getting salaries in line with those in the
rest of the country. They've now asked for mediation
to help resolve their dispute. DB
New
Brunswick
MD resigns as head
of ED
SAINT JOHN —
Dr James Ducharme has resigned from his position as
head of the emergency department at Saint John Regional
Hospital, citing difficult working conditions caused
by understaffing and overcrowding. The emerg was built
to handle 25,000 to 30,000 cases per year. But that
number has climbed to 70,000 this year, according to
Dr Ducharme. A shortage of FPs in the Saint John area,
an aging population and the decision to close the St
Joseph's Hospital's 24-hour emergency room service last
year are all to blame for the increase in patient visits.
Dr Ducharme said he will stay on as a physician at the
hospital. SB
Nova
Scotia
Health dollars
key election promise
HALIFAX —
The impending Nova Scotia provincial election has political
candidates working hard to upstage one another with
lofty election promises. NDP Leader Darrell Dexter is
pledging to create 500 new nursing home beds within
two years to free up congested EDs. Progressive Conservative
Leader Rodney MacDonald announced his party will implement
a $75 million Working Families Pharmacare Plan designed
to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for the 142,000
Nova Scotians who do not have drug coverage. The Liberals,
meanwhile, are focusing on continuing care and pharmacare
improvements. PL
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Prince
Edward Island
Island gives NPs
green light
CHARLOTTETOWN
— A new agreement between PEI doctors and
nurses has given clinics in Hunter River and Souris
the go-ahead to hire nurse practitioners (NPs). PEI
was the last province to allow NPs and many island physicians
had resisted working with them in the past. "Finally
we'll have nurse practitioners working here in Prince
Edward Island with our healthcare teams," said Margaret
Duffy, president of the PEI Nurses' Union. PL
Newfoundland
PAP test campaign
launched
ST JOHN'S —
A cervical screening program was launched in May in
Clarenville to provide services for women in the province's
rural eastern region. Although this region has a population
of 45,375 women, the Eastern Health authority says only
31% had pap tests in 2005. A provincial cervical screening
program was launched in 2003, based on the success of
a three-year pilot in western Newfoundland. Programs
are expected to be offered in all areas of the province
this year. About 35 women in the province are diagnosed
with invasive cervical cancer annually and several hundred
with severe precancerous changes. DSS
The
North
Yukon Party health
record lambasted
WHITEHORSE, YK
— Opposition parties tore into the Yukon
Party's healthcare record during the closing session
of the legislature at the end of May, reported the Whitehorse
Star. The NDP and Liberal parties castigated the
government on issues such as physician shortages, dearth
of nursing practitioner positions, as well as the lack
of funding to the Whitehorse General Hospital. "Yukoners
want to be able to see a doctor when they need one.
This government has failed to deliver. I don't know
which one is longer: this government's list of excuses
or the growing list of orphan patients," said Liberal
MLA Gary McRobb. HY
Contributors: Hector Andrews, Simon
Biggar, Donna Byers, Lance Davies, Geoff Everett, Thane
Jenkins, Paige Lee, Julie J Mercier, Deana Stokes Sullivan
and Henrietta Yan.
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