Hemorrhaging medical care and the two tiered system.

 The hemorrhaging medical care system and private clinics.

"With regards to international comparison, the 2014 Commonwealth Fund report on the health system performance of 11 countries ranked Canada 10th overall, indicated particularly low scores in quality, safety, access, timeliness, efficiency and equity."

   Despite the fact that the hubris of the government of Canada results in attempts to violate the rights of citizens to buy health care, government either refuses or cannot afford to give, private clinics continue to quietly surface.  They do so with a minimum of publicity, just enough to be visible to those who seek it and hopefully not enough to bring them to the attention of the "health commissars".  If they can keep their heads below the radar for the present, perhaps they will thrive as the public gets used to better, more timely care.  The fact that many people are prepared to pay from their own pockets, in addition to the considerable taxes they pay, surely makes it clear that the system is unsatisfactory and this is the only way they can get better care.  When I started looking to see what already exists, I was surprised.  As  I  started searching it became  apparent that private medical care is already more developed  than I had imagined.   I had only been looking a short time when I hit upon: findprivateclinics.ca.  Their web site attempts to list all of the private health care facilities available.  If you are prepared to pay, that MRI that was going to take a year can be obtained this month, or maybe even this week.  Need to see an orthopedic surgeon?  Instead of waiting a year you can do it this month, or possibly this week.  You can even get your hip or knee replaced in short order, if you are prepared to pay for it.  Most of these services are available in Canada but for some it may be necessary to travel to the U.S.   In some cases the U.S. has come to us.  The Cleveland Clinic, a global non-profit academic medical centre opened a 26,000 sq foot medical facility in Toronto in 2006.   Located in a prestigious building in Bay Street, the Cleveland Clinic Canada, is a part of a clinic that enjoys an international reputation.  Have a look at their web site :http://my.clevelandclinic.org/canada.  

      findprivateclinics.ca is an easy to use comprehensive web site that lists most of the private facilities in Canada.  Obviously, they tend to be clustered in the most populous parts of the country, but they are found everywhere. Because private health care keeps a low profile for obvious reasons, some are a little slow to come to light.  The facilities are listed by province and the opening menu lists by specialty icons, starting at A for Allergy and ending with W for weight loss.  Just click on the subject of your interest and voila, the clinics are listed, most of which have a detailed web site of their own.  Even if you are not contemplating using private health care facilities, this is worth taking a look at.  The site gets about eight thousand monthly visits.  The only thing I could not easily access was cost.   So, the much maligned two tiered  system is already here.  The government doesn't want to admit it because it emphasizes their failure.  The doctors and other health professionals like to keep a low profile, for fear of waking up government.  The folks who need it and can afford it want to see it thrive and prosper.

Do you think we need a two tiered health care system?