BC Residents Will Wait For Surgeries While Saskatchewan Pays Premium To Buy Hospital Time For Sask Residents
The government of Saskatchewan is arranging to pay a financial premium that will let its citizens jump to the front of the line in British Columbia for hip and knee surgeries:
"REGINA — Media reports coming out of British Columbia indicate the government there is in discussions with Premier Brad Wall to sell 400 hip and knee replacement surgeries to Saskatchewan over the next two years.
Government officials are quoted as saying the discussions are at a preliminary stage, but are supported by the B.C. ministry of health because Saskatchewan would pay a premium for the service and that would help the cash-strapped B.C. government use those additional dollars to reduce its own waiting list.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health is expected to outline a number of possible measures today about how it may achieve the goal, outlined in the Throne Speech, to reduce waits for elective surgery to a maximum of three months within four years.
One of those measures might be to send people out of province, according to a ministry release.
However, Wall has previously indicated that his first preference is to secure services within Saskatchewan first as a more convenient alternative for patients."
Vancouver Sun
"VICTORIA, B.C. — The B.C. government is being accused of cutting surgeries while at the same time offering hip and knee operations to patients from other provinces. NDP Health critic Adrian Dix says thousands of elective surgeries have been cancelled across B.C. because of spending restraints by the provincial government, and yet the province has surgical openings for non-B.C. patients.
He accused the Liberals during question period of auctioning off surgery spots to the highest bidder while B.C. patients languish on waiting lists. But Health Minister Kevin Falcon says B.C.'s medical expertise in hip and knee replacements has cut waiting lists for those operations by half and allowed B.C. to offer the service to other provinces. He says other provinces pay a premium, and that provides money for more operations in B.C."
Canadian Press
-The Tyee has more ....
"REGINA — Media reports coming out of British Columbia indicate the government there is in discussions with Premier Brad Wall to sell 400 hip and knee replacement surgeries to Saskatchewan over the next two years.
Government officials are quoted as saying the discussions are at a preliminary stage, but are supported by the B.C. ministry of health because Saskatchewan would pay a premium for the service and that would help the cash-strapped B.C. government use those additional dollars to reduce its own waiting list.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health is expected to outline a number of possible measures today about how it may achieve the goal, outlined in the Throne Speech, to reduce waits for elective surgery to a maximum of three months within four years.
One of those measures might be to send people out of province, according to a ministry release.
However, Wall has previously indicated that his first preference is to secure services within Saskatchewan first as a more convenient alternative for patients."
Vancouver Sun
"VICTORIA, B.C. — The B.C. government is being accused of cutting surgeries while at the same time offering hip and knee operations to patients from other provinces. NDP Health critic Adrian Dix says thousands of elective surgeries have been cancelled across B.C. because of spending restraints by the provincial government, and yet the province has surgical openings for non-B.C. patients.
He accused the Liberals during question period of auctioning off surgery spots to the highest bidder while B.C. patients languish on waiting lists. But Health Minister Kevin Falcon says B.C.'s medical expertise in hip and knee replacements has cut waiting lists for those operations by half and allowed B.C. to offer the service to other provinces. He says other provinces pay a premium, and that provides money for more operations in B.C."
Canadian Press
-The Tyee has more ....
You're always better off with free trade ;) hah
Posted by
Unknown |
12:17 pm, October 29, 2009
What,countless years of socialist nirvana and theres no hospitals in Sask to treat their own citizens...come out to capitalist BC where we.ve got jobs, health care, the highest living standard in North America and we have fun doing it. Bring your cheque book
Posted by
inthepaint |
5:20 pm, October 29, 2009
A couple of key corrections to your erroneous comment:
1) It is not a shortage of 'hospital's here .. it is a shortage of staff (surgeons and nurses).
2) For over 2 years, Saskatchewan has been governed by what used to be the 'Progressive Conservative' Party. They are now called 'the Saskatchewan Party' and they are more capitalist and right wing than what you have in BC. They have let things slide here in Saskatchewan.
Posted by
leftdog |
6:25 pm, October 29, 2009
Let things slide? Dog, you're not going to try and tell us that the waiting lists have grown under the new government are you?
The government in Saskatchewan is putting people before political ideology and that is a good thing.
Posted by
Trent |
8:00 pm, October 29, 2009
25 months ago, the Sask Party convinced enough voters to give them a chance based on promises to improve waiting times. The people bought it ... nothing happened. But now, Wall Inc. has decided that they have to come up with something because the next election is now 23 months away.
Posted by
leftdog |
10:25 pm, October 29, 2009
@inthepaint: we closed a lot of our hospitals and didn't hire doctors because the *last time* the conservatives were in power here they damn near bankrupted the province. We had to make a lot of sacrifices and our healthcare system took a big hit because of it. Now the conservatives are back in power here and predictably, they are doing the exact same things. This is just the latest attempt to move their incompetency under the carpet.
Posted by
themusicgod1 |
2:13 pm, November 06, 2009