Danny Boy Fixes Ticker In The USA

I wasn't going to comment on Newfoundland Premier Danny Wilson's decision to head to the States for heart surgery.

Then I realized, *smashes V8 to head* I'm The Commentator.

With a slight concussion I try. My wife says I was born concussed.

Look it's simple: In Canada, when it comes to access to quick and specialized services like, say, a heart transplant, the universal care system in its current form can't provide it. I don't know why people act shocked - SHOCKED! - whenever they here someone with some coin split for the USA for health services. When I worked at FPC (findprivateclinics.ca), I was flooded with emails from people asking where to go in the United States for certain services. For example, here in Quebec there are no private rheumatoid arthritis. I had to help link people to the Fletcher Allen Center in Vermont.

Truth is it happens all the time. So much so we almost launched a medical travel practice. That's how strong the demand was.

Part of it, is bureaucratic. There are so many interventionist rules against doctors and nurses it would leave you wondering if our politicians are doing it on purpose it's so stupid. In one case, we were close to a doctor in Ontario. Here's a guy, a doc, who went to school in Ontario, was trained in Ontario, worked in the Ontario system and he wasn't allowed to perform certain major knee surgeries because he decided to go private - as if he suddenly became incompetent. He was free to scope knees and other minor surgeries but was not permitted to repair an ACL.

Dumb.

And that shit happens right across the board in hundreds of different combination. Here in Quebec, we have a doctor, nurse (and bed) shortage. Yet, we don't allow immigrant medical professionals to work here to help shorten the gap. I recognize some places don't have our standards but in cases where they do, dammit, let them work. Too many of them are driving cabs or selling RRSPs for crying out loud. That's not putting our resources to good work.

In the case of Williams, quite frankly, it's none of our business what he does. While I'm cool with his decision, I just hope the good people of Newfoundland aren't on the hook.

Here's another thing to consider. Health falls under the jurisdiction of the provinces. There is no blanket "Canadian universal" system. Provinces adhere to the health act set by the Federal government but are free to operate their own systems. It's pretty fragmented when you think of the fact that our medicare cards aren't portable across provincial borders.

So it's possible Newfoundland didn't offer the service he needed. As for the other provinces? It looks like his best bet was in the States.

And don't think for one minute Europeans don't leave their own respective countries for medical services elsewhere. From what I read, their destination of choice is Asia and, of course, the United States. Is it an indictment of the systems or just a result of specific cases and personal decisions?

Which begs the question. If The Grinch had a choice where would he go to increase the size of his heart?