Canadian Official Seeks US Surgery

[2Aggies]

So does the recent annoucement that Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is coming to the US for surgery suggest anything about the Canadian healthcare system? Seems he is being awfully secretive about the surgery and WHY he is coming to the US for it. I know he has plenty of money. Just curious if any of our Canadian friends have any additional info.

[ragman]

2Ag's,  I can't understand why he would come here. According to the Libs we have a terrible Health Care System and rank low in a list of countries. I keep hearing in the middle 20's.

 While at a BBQ last summer with some Liberal Professors I heard in conversation how Costa Rica had a better health care than the USA. Again I got into trouble with Rag girl by standing  up and telling that person, Bullshit!  A few weeks ago about the same thing happened at a dinner, you would think that I would learn.  This time when I stated my view that the US system was the best in the world I was told that was a lie.  Can you imagine a person who barely knew me calling me a liar?  What a bunch of ass holes. The whole tone of the dinner changed after I gave my rebuttal.  

In another post several months ago on this board or maybe the other I told a story about a Canadian I met in Cancun who told me he almost died because he couldn't get the care right away in Canada.  He was in the USA, Flordia I think he said when he got sick and they wanted to operate, I think it was to replace a kidney, the next day.  The Canadian system said no and provided him with a nurse to escort him back to Canada where he waited for several months for his operation.  Of course I have no way to verify this story and can only take him at his word.  I will say that I was sitting in a pool with with him drinking a rum and did not say anything but how are you doing to prompt this conversation.  I was informed by other posters that this could not be true.

[BettyJ]

And what about the infant mortality rate stats?  Gotta love how the US is killing babies because of lack of insurance - what a joke!   

[papashine]

Its either a very serious surgery and he is going to the states for the expertise or its an elective surgery that there is to much waiting time for in Canada, don't see a problem with him going to the states, I would imagine most Canuks would go if they had the money.

[peterbj7]

Maybe the best surgeon for this particular procedure happens to be in the US?

[JZB]

I agree.  It probably has nothing to do with healthcare 'systems' but more to do with the 'best person for the job'.  Its not like he's getting a wart removed or something.

[martinbsmithjr]

Betty infant mortality rates are more related to life style than to health care. If you and your mother, your mother's mother and her mother's mother an so on have been living on the Great Society so long that you think you can have multiple children by multiple fathers (most of whom you don't know) and have a decent life such as promised to you by LBJ and the rest of the lying plantation master democrats your little baby is at great risk of dying. Especially if you leave them while you go out and turn tricks to fix your crack habit. Give me a break.

Ragman has it right and I have personal first hand knowledge of this. When we tried to get a patient a bed back in Ontario or Quebec that desperately needed care the system wouldn't take them. The Canadian system is a piece of crap just like the UK's NHS but of course the sheeple that populate those places have been brainwashed to think that what they have is superior to we overly commercial Americans.

Look at five year survival rates on some of the most prevalent cancers and then you will see the difference. The fact that the crack smoking hip hopsters are having babies die is their fault and not the health care systems.

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I am not personally attacking anybody here but those of us that work these systems actually know about them and the vaunted Cuban doctors are more like paramedics than our physicians. The guy that came from the Great Cold NorthEast knows what he is doing.

[martinbsmithjr]

Hey Ragman what the Canadian said probably wasn't true because they would never ever provide a nurse to him(or anything else for that matter while he is outside Canada). They would insist that he use his travel medical insurance to get the care in the US so he wouldn't take up valuable space in the hallways of the hospital back in Canada.

[clover]

You sure know how to make friends with the Canadians that use this forum

[martinbsmithjr]

Eh?

[BettyJ]

So the US is the only country that has crack head mothers giving birth to multiple babies by multiple fathers?  In almost every state, prenatal care is totally covered as well as immediate rescue care and long term care for the poor, innocent child.  It is just more likely that these doc, clinics, hospitals that these insects go to for care are required to report the numbers, that's all.... 

Truly sad, but pretty sure the US has not cornered the market on this issue!

And you probably believe that the US invented slavery as well.... 

[clover]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wt4XlXUrc   

[martinbsmithjr]

OK Betty you have me completely confused as I don't see your point at all. No of course the US hasn't cornered the market on these stupidities but we do have a large, and growing, underclass of blacks that engage in these activities disproportionately to those in the rest of the world. We were talking about infant mortality as a proxy for the relative merit of the health care systems. Like I said, look at five and ten year cancer survival rates and that will give you a much better picture of the quality of the health/medical care system. These infant mortality numbers are published by bureaucrats that are always trying to get more tax money to support their oversight of the 'field hands' on the big welfare plantation. Really, it's the only way a good overseer can get a raise.

[BettyJ]

As a career healthcare person, it just chaps me when statistics are used to slam the US Healthcare system (which is at least partially politically motivated - perhaps when the government takes over, these numbers will improve LOL).  Diplomats, officials and the wealthy from all over the world have always come to the US for specialized care..  maybe they also  seek care in Canada or Europe just as often - I honestly do not know. 

The bottom line in that US Doc / Hospitals are required to report various statistics and then later they are compared to other countries who do not even have the capacity to capture the same stats.  For example, how many babies are born in a hospital in Belize (verses the US)?  With minimal access to a hospitals, I just do not think the crack addict mother who delivers a premature, stillborn baby in Belize will be equally represented in the statistics.           

Yes, I am a little sensitive - please forgive!

[martinbsmithjr]

No problem Betty. It appears we are on the same page as I was taking issue with people slamming the US system. I too have worked in this field for the last 40 years and I don't believe anyone has better health care than we have in the US.