Editor:
I agree – ownership of health care facilities matters, but not in the way the president of the BC Nurses’ Union claims. Her argument for government ownership of our new extended care facility is unconvincing. The insinuation that privately owned care facilities results in a reduction in care hours is a red herring. Those numbers are set in the contract with the health authority. There’s no magic formula or “right” number – it depends on the collective needs of the residents as assessed by VCH. Trellis Seniors Services has consistently met their contracted care hours in all their facilities. And they provide that level of care with staff that have the same qualifications and levels of compensation as those working in public facilities.
Canada is the only wealthy, developed western nation that maintains a government monopoly on the ownership and management of hospitalized care; it is no coincidence that our health care system performs so very poorly. We have the longest wait times for medical care in the developed world. The authoritative Commonwealth Fund study rates Canada at 10th of 11 wealthy nations – only slightly ahead of the United States. OECD studies have come to the similar conclusions. And all the countries whose universal health care systems perform so much better than Canada’s have a healthy mix of public and private care facilities and providers. We should not now extend our failed government monopoly to extended care residences.
The push for government ownership is based on a thoroughly debunked political and economic model and contributes to the sorry state of our health care system. It smacks of rigid ideology and union politics. Rather than reinforcing a failed model, we can do better by looking at how other countries, particularly in Western Europe, successfully deliver health care.
Keith Maxwell, Sechelt
