Our Health Care System can be frustrating! NF

[lew]

 

 

When you spend your time there talking to people coming from all over the place makes me happy I donated.

 

My wife had her surgery there in November plus alot of the testing and even if I tried I wouldn't be able to say a single negative thing about them.

 

Absolutely top notch organization, especially the nursing staff who treated my wife like she was the absolute most important person in the world.

 

As far as I'm concerned a nurse can't be overpaid....and that goes for surgeons too.

[fishermccann]

My grandfather who lived in Detroit had double bypass heart surgery. Then 5 days in hosp. afterwards, the bill was $64,000 , and this was 10 years ago. No insurance, had to pay some with cash the rest on his visa.

[bigugli]

There are good facilities and staff. There are also some less than stellar facilities and staff.

An institution is only as good as thee people running it. Last I saw, we had not yet perfected humanity.

That aside, I spent 10 years in health care admin, and am ever so glad I was downsized out. The patient was, all too often, treated as an object rather than a person. And yes, some hospitals have horrible standards of care. It is also true that there are far too many bureaucrats and not enough care givers. A fact of life in any government funded or managed industry.

On the plus side, I have seen some outstanding levels of care. Juravinski cancer facility in Hamilton has been fantastic in every aspect of my wife's treatment and care. My two spinal surgeries have been done with absolute professionalism and great care for the patient. I know of few facilities down here that meet that level of care.

[Moosebunk]

There are good facilities and staff. There are also some less than stellar facilities and staff.

An institution is only as good as thee people running it.

 

Sooo true.

 

Wish there was more quality assurance, practice standards, licensing, reflective practice, mandatory certifications, accountability and front-line experience for management. lol.

[aplumma]

I have had my taste of government drive health care in the military. I was not happy then because time in rate trumps knowledge (doctors) and you have no choice as to who you get to see. However it was "free" NOT you paid for it with your contract you signed to protect the country as well as a reduced income. Needless to say I will continue to fight government interference in our medical system even if I have to pay 100% more to have my choice of doctors. Don't get me wrong the horror stories you hear from both sides of the boarder are true we have issues as well but I have the option to fire one doctor and locate a better one if they do not live up to my expectations.

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

That is very true Art but I have heard so many horor stories of people having to sell their homes and everything they own just to pay a loved ones medical bills in the US.

 

I know our system isn't perfect and there are times I do get frustrated with it but no matter how poor you are you can and do get really good quality of care in Canada. I can tell you right now that if it wasn't for our current system Sue probably wouldn't be with me today and if we had to pay for the medications she has to take everyday we would have trouble putting food on the table never mind a roof over our head.

 

We just tried to get health insurance so that we could head South for a few weeks, the underwriters didn't even want to give us a quote for Sue and when I pushed them for a price I was told it would be at least $1000.00/day because of her current issues and even then there would be restrictions and limits to the coverage!

 

Guess there are good and bad things on either side of the coin.

[Joey]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the health care system Cliff. I agree, how can a dog get an MRI faster than a human???

 

Hope Sue gets her results and all is well.

 

Take care you two

[outllaw]

how is it. if your injured in a motor vehicle accident insurance companies can get you observed/diagnosed in 3 weeks with an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon. but if your dr books apt its 24 months. . years back I saw 13 neuro/ortho,s in 24 months. . as for standard healthcare I am proud of what us canucks have. theres plenty of usa horror stories

[lew]

I honestly don't understand how so many of you folks have so much trouble getting treatment for so many things.

 

I've had both hips replaced, plus I've had spinal surgery, my wife just went through some very serious stuff plus another pretty delicate surgery a few years ago, and we've both gone through all the other normal medical things that everyone goes through and so have both my kids.

 

Never once, in all those instances, have we had a single problem with anything. ALL tests have been done quickly and the surgeries have been scheduled and performed very fast.

 

I dunno, maybe my family has been extremely fortunate, or some of you boys are just having plain lousy luck.

[ch312]

I have had my taste of government drive health care in the military. I was not happy then because time in rate trumps knowledge (doctors) and you have no choice as to who you get to see. However it was "free" NOT you paid for it with your contract you signed to protect the country as well as a reduced income. Needless to say I will continue to fight government interference in our medical system even if I have to pay 100% more to have my choice of doctors. Don't get me wrong the horror stories you hear from both sides of the boarder are true we have issues as well but I have the option to fire one doctor and locate a better one if they do not live up to my expectations.

 

Art

 

We're not forced to stick to one doctor and we're allowed to switch family doctors any time or get a second opinion from a specialist in a hospital. I had two family doctors before finally being happy at a place where there's a family of doctors that see me so I never have the same person and if you disagree you can get another doctors opinion. Multiple family members have switched hospitals due to doctors not trying hard enough to figure out what's wrong or misdiagnosing people.

 

One such incident resulted in a cousin having a stroke. Our local hospital would do nothing and the parents had enough and went to another city where that hospital found the issue right away. They say the stroke that paralyzed half her body would have been 100% prevented if our hospital had done their job.

 

 

I honestly don't understand how so many of you folks have so much trouble getting treatment for so many things.

 

I've had both hips replaced, plus I've had spinal surgery, my wife just went through some very serious stuff plus another pretty delicate surgery a few years ago, and we've both gone through all the other normal medical things that everyone goes through and so have both my kids.

 

Never once, in all those instances, have we had a single problem with anything. ALL tests have been done quickly and the surgeries have been scheduled and performed very fast.

 

I dunno, maybe my family has been extremely fortunate, or some of you boys are just having plain lousy luck.

 

It totally depends on your doctor and hospital where testing and treatment occurs. Just like anything else there are places that do good work and others that should be out of business. Quite unfortunate, but that's the way she goes. For instance, the hospital here in Brantford is a joke while 35 minutes away in Hamilton you can get top notch service.