Canada’s exposure to the COVID pandemic was modest compared to that felt by most other developed nations, but its impact revealed a health-care system already overburdened and unprepared for a repeat event any time soon. After undergoing a serious wake-up call during the 2002/2003 SARS epidemic that killed 10 per cent of infected victims (44 in Canada, mostly in Toronto); and then the H1N1 (swine flu) that originated in North America in 2008 (killing more than 400 Canadians through 2010), Canada mobilized its public health officials to fast-track a defence against any repetitions. But a decade later, as COVID-19 swept in, the nation’s public health system appeared to have been caught flat-footed, its initial responses delayed and indecisive; in the opinion of Canada’s auditor general: “not as well-prepared as it could have been.” What the pandemic stress test also exposed was a fragile health-care system that, even during “normal” times, often operates at 100 per cent of hospital-bed capacity, has an inadequate number and distribution of family physicians to serve a growing population, and has the longest average wait times for necessary medical services among developed countries throughout the world. According to the U.S.-based Commonwealth Fund, a respected monitor of international health system trends, a 2016 survey showed that Canada performed below average in providing timely access to patient care compared to Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. It was rated the worst of those countries in providing same-day or next-day appointments for sick patients, waiting for treatment in emergency departments, waiting to see a specialist or waiting for elective surgery. In receiving after-hours care without resorting to an ER, it was the second worst. CIHI Accessibility report by Commonwealth Fund 2016. How can this be, for a country that spends more than $265 billion (11.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product) on health care, more than almost any other with a UHS − universal health-care system − CAD$7,064. per every resident in the country? Despite this formidable spending, in a grading of countries with universal health-care systems, Canada ranks 26 out of 28 (28 being the worst) for its number of doctors (2.8 per 1,000 people); 25 out of 26 for its number of acute-care hospital beds (2.1 per 1,000 people); 22 out of 26 for availability of MRIs (10.5 per million people); and 21 out of 27 countries for CT scanners (16 per million people). Data from OECD and Fraser Institute 2020. Almost all developed high-income countries (except for the U.S.) have universal health-care systems, whichmeans that all of their residents have (or are required to have) access to comprehensive medical care coverage funded or administered publicly or through taxes or premiums, or by a combination of public and private insurance. Pandemic Stress Test Reveals Fragile Future for Canada’s Health Care By Milan Korcok Health 36 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx