Because high risk pregnancies come with so little warning;
Well, you can’t expect a G7 economy of only 30 million people to be able to offer the same level of neonatal ICU coverage as a town of 50,000 in remote rural Montana. And let’s face it, there’s nothing an expectant mom likes more than 300 miles in a bumpy twin prop over the Rockies.
More on the Calgary quartet at BBC.
More reaction: Don Surber strikes a similar theme.
Clearwater River Dene First Nation and the neighboring community of La Loche are among the most economically challenged in the province, with all the accompanying social ills – crime, substance abuse, welfare dependence. But save your sympathies. Apparently, they like it that way;
Christopher Hopkins, the president and CEO of Oilsands Quest Inc., gets a steely look in his eyes when you ask him about the reason he’s moving the bunkhouses from one of the two camps his company had constructed at the Axe Lake oilsands project in the northwestern corner of Saskatchewan.
He’s moving the camp infrastructure, which can house up to 100 workers in hotel-level comfort, to the Alberta side of the border, where Oilsands Quest also has oilsand leases on land contiguous to its Saskatchewan property.
The move west to Alberta is more than symbolic to Hopkins, whose company was in the news this past June when road access to his camps was cut off on Saskatchewan provincial Highway 955 when members of the Clearwater River Dene First Nation, under the direction of Chief Roy Cheecham, refused access for vehicles or people headed to the Oilsands Quest camp.
The blockade left a lasting impression on Hopkins, who says he has no desire or plans in the future to meet with Cheecham again.
“I have told the chief. I have told anyone who will listen. We will never be caught in a blockade like that again,” Hopkins said. “And I mean it.”
That’s not the only barrier to development. Cheecham has allies in Regina.
Hopkins won’t say anything bad about the Government of Saskatchewan, but notes he had to submit 18 copies of his application to various government offices in Regina for the right to lay down more than 900 kilometres of new seismic lines, plus do additional drilling into the bitumen formation.
Many in the industry speculate that Saskatchewan’s oil sands deposits may rival those of Alberta.
Now you know why they speculate.
Related: Ending the desecration of Father Sky and Mother Earth through the miracle of outdoor plumbing….
So what number do you dial to call a fatty wagon over to your house? 1011? 1TON?
Just curious.
Jack Layton appears to have wandered from Saint Tommy’s flock. He’s been caught using private health care. Taliban Jack a waiting list dodging hypocrite? Who knew!
Laura Herman (Arcologist) emails;
I’m not afraid of user fees, but I figure they should be applied first on the specialty services, not the basics. Now after all the reductions in hospital services here, we are being asked as rural/small-town taxpayers and as individuals to come up with funding for an incentive package for nurses, so that we can get our in-patient services and night-time emergency services back. Before I organize a garage sale for the cause, I’m doing some thinking about a slippery slope.
And before you jump in about declining rural populations, this is not one of those cases. In addition to a stable mixed cattle/grain agricultural base, the town is located in the booming southeast oil patch, with all the accident risks – and tax revenues – that accompany that industry.
From the comments;
When 75-80% of your workforce is coming from two year technical school and college programs and you eliminate this sector and you are expecting a taxpayer funded university system that is chronically short of money to pick up the slack the outcome is an unmitigated disaster.
Yesterday’s legislative session shed some light on the latest development in the province’s nursing shortage. It appears the Weyburn General Hospital will be unable to deliver babies this summer because of staffing shortages.
Specifically, six full-time nursing positions are open on the ward that houses maternity services. According to a report, there are also just two doctors performing deliveries at a hospital where 50 babies are born every year.
So as of June first, mothers heading into labour in the Weyburn area will have to be directed elsewhere.
Weyburn is located in the province’s booming southeastern oil patch, with a population of around 9,500.
| It’s also famous as the home town of the “father of universal health care”. |  |
(Related: The “fight of the century” to fund universal health care in Illinois goes down in a 107-0 vote of the Democratic House.)
Via email;
I am working on a documentary against socialized medicine in the US and Canada. We are now at the stage of looking for Canadians stuck on waitlists so we can find a select few to get free medical care in the US. If you know any suffering Canadians (especially in Vancouver) please feel free to pass on our details or to promote us to them.
More information and an application form here.
This is all I know about the project – so be sure to apply a little “due diligence” should you choose to participate.
Main page.
Here’ s a valuable money-saving tip from the British NHS that our hospitals may have missed:
Cleaners at an NHS hospital with a poor record on superbugs have been told to turn over dirty sheets instead of using fresh ones between patients to save money.
In many trends Britain is “ahead” of us, but we can probably assume our Medicare systems will catch up in due course.
William Watson notes Canadians’ opinions are beginning to change on Medicare:
There’s a political party in this country, Mario Dumont’s Action democratique du Quebec, that is currently running — in a real election, in Canada’s most statist province — on a reformist platform in health care. It’s not a very detailed platform and Mr. Dumont might run away from it if he ever gets near power, but, for the time being at least, the program says:
– The Supreme Court’s Chaouilli decision was right: People should be allowed to spend their own money on their own health.
A short course In brain surgery.
The more things stay the same, the more things stay the same;
On the same day the provincial government announced it had taken in an extra $1.2 billion in the last budget year, the latest population numbers from Statistics Canada showed a decrease of nearly 2,000 people in the first quarter of this year.
That dropped Saskatchewan’s population to 988,980, putting it under 990,000 for the first time since July 1982.
If past behavior is any indication, we can brace for an influx of immigration as Lorne Calvert addresses the decline by advertising civil service positions out of province.
My friends, watch out for the left-wing propagandist with an idea;
CBC Television has agreed to pull the movie Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story from all future scheduled broadcasts in response to criticisms it was historically inaccurate.
When the two-part miniseries ran in March, it received some good reviews but also criticisms from historians who said its portrayal of James Gardiner, premier of Saskatchewan in the late-1920s and mid-1930s, was inaccurate.
One example cited was the suggestion Gardiner drank alcohol, when in fact he was a teetotaller. In one scene, Gardiner berates miners in the 1931 Estevan coal strike in a broadcast to the province. However, historians say the speech never happened and Gardiner wasn’t premier during the strike.
On Monday, members of the Gardiner family received an e-mail from CBC Television’s executive vice-president Richard Stursberg.
“In response, we are pulling Prairie Giant from all scheduled broadcasts and we have halted both home and educational sales,” Stursberg said in the e-mail.
Now, may we please have our money back?
Update. I now have contents of the letter of apology;
Dear Mr. Gardiner and Ms. Gardiner,
On behalf of everyone at CBC Television, I regret the mischaracterization of James Garfield Gardiner in the mini-series `Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story’ that we aired earlier this season.
The criticisms that you and others expressed about the credibility of this portrayal concerned us greatly even as we came to its defence. To help us address the criticisms, we engaged an outside third-party historian with no ties to CBC, your family or the Douglas family to assess the way in which Mr. Gardiner was depicted. I regret to say that his conclusion was that the character created for the film does not reflect the accepted historical record-and that, as you well know, the characterization in the mini-series is significantly different from Mr. Gardiner’s true personality and behaviour.
In response, we are pulling `Prairie Giant’ from all scheduled broadcasts and we have halted both home and educational sales. Our hope is that we can find a solution that will address concerns regarding the characterization of Mr. Gardiner before resuming distribution.
All of us at CBC Television greatly regret the distress that this has caused, and thank you for drawing this to our attention.
Sincerely,
Richard Stursberg
Executive Vice-President
CBC Television
In Calvert’s Saskatchewan, it’s not good enough to drive bureaucratic nails in the coffin of a tiny rural community – not if you can collect a fine as well.
Because God knows, they need every penny of those revenues to pour into the rural infrastructure.
The CBC is coy about the controversy surrounding Prairie Giant – The Tommy Douglas Story. (Speaking of The Greatest Eugenicist, can anyone tell me if it mentioned these writings?)
The movie, which ran in two parts on CBC in March, got some good reviews but it also came under fire for alleged historical inaccuracies.
“Alleged inaccuracies” include a hard-drinkin’ Premier Gardiner giving a speech to striking coal miners in a year he wasn’t premier – or so “historians say”. The report goes out of its way to downplay the school division rejection.
Some school board trustees in Prince Albert think schools in the region shouldn’t show the recent made-for-TV movie about former premier and medicare founder Tommy Douglas.
Members of the Saskatchewan Rivers school board recently held a brief debate in response to a letter from Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall objecting to the way former Liberal premier Jimmy Gardiner was portrayed in the two-part movie Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story.
Some trustees were opposed to having the movie shown in schools, while at least one other raised concerns about censorship, director of education Bill Cooke said Thursday.
However, no action was taken and the letter was simply received and filed, Cooke said.
“Let’s face it, this is a letter from a politician,” he said. “We’re supposed to be above that.”
Compare the CBC report with this less “invested” one;
A majority of trustees in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division are advising against schools showing the movie Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, saying it is based on fiction and not fact.
The CBC drama was broadcast in March as a two-part, four-hour miniseries chronicling the life of the former Saskatchewan premier who changed the face of health care in Canada.
But Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall recently wrote a letter to the school division, saying he objected to its portrayal of former Saskatchewan premier James Gardiner.
“The film does not accurately portray a very significant period of time in our province’s rich history,” said Wall. “The historical inaccuracies of the film have been cited by no less authorities than former premier Allan Blakeney, who stated that Gardiner was inappropriately depicted as a ‘simple-minded demon.’”
Saskatchewan Rivers trustee Barry Hollick said he supported the letter from Wall and suggested the rest of the board do the same.
“I view this film as political propaganda and I’d hope we wouldn’t use it in our schools,” said Hollick.
Trustee Rodney Thompson said he didn’t think the board should interfere with freedom of speech.
More here on how Gardiner was portrayed;
A blacker figure could scarcely be imagined. Mean, arrogant and selfish, the CBC’s Gardiner was the very antithesis of the saintly Tommy. In dramatic terms, the lifelong Liberal’s rendering provided a great nemesis for Douglas, an implacable foe for the CCF leader to prevail over.
It was wonderful television, but abysmal history.
David Smith, the Saskatchewan political scientist who co-authored the only Gardiner biography ever written, calls his subject’s treatment at the hands of the CBC “scandalous.”
“It’s not right to portray him like that. You might disagree with how he went about it, but Saskatchewan was very important to him.”
On almost every score, scriptwriter Bruce Smith got Gardiner wrong. Significant historical events were either twisted beyond recognition or worse, drawn out of thin air.
Developments in this story from two weeks ago, via Mutt-Man;
Two weeks ago, we reported on the plight of Rev. Harry Lehotsky of Winnipeg who was suffering from abdominal pain and was told he had to wait five months for a barium x-ray and seven months for an appointment with a gastroenterologist (See ‘Health Care: Paying to be on a waiting list’).
According to the article in today’s Winnipeg Free Press (link available for a limited time), “…the minister was insistent they [the tests] be moved up”. The diagnosis? “…the ulcer doctors had been treating isn’t an ulcer at all. It’s pancreatic cancer. It has spread to his liver, spleen and lymph nodes. And it’s inoperable.” Doctors have given Rev. Lehotsky six weeks to nine months to live.
More about Rev. Lehotsky Dust My Broom
After his “occasional upper abdominal discomfort” evolved into continuous pain, Rev. Lehotsky went to an Urgent Care facility on Easter Sunday. After six hours, the doctor reported that he “wasn’t sure what was causing the pain” and Rev. Lehotsky would have to be referred for further tests, a barium X-ray and an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Shortly afterward, Rev. Lehotsky was shocked to learn that the wait for the x-ray would be five months and the first appointment with a gastroenterologist would be in seven months.
In Saskatchewan, there are health care professionals who are openly advising patients to contact a SaskParty opposition MLA in the hope that public attention will speed their progress through the system – so much so, it has been reported that there is now a waiting list for families trying to have their cases heard in the legislature.
|
On second thought, they might start giving out Shirley Douglas’ number. She has a habit of materializing at the side of Jack Layton whenever he drops into Saskatchewan to hold NDP campaign seances. |
Leader Post(pdf) – NDP offended by Gormley show;
The provincial government is taking offence to comments made on a
popular radio talk show Tuesday about Premier Lorne Calvert’s handling of the province’s health-care system.
The topic – failures of the Saskatchewan health care system, highlighted last week by the story of the Hansen family in trying to find help for their 18 month old, who was finally diagnosed with leukemia after an emergency trip to an Edmonton children’s hospital.
But for Clay Serby, defending the practice of medical rationing goes beyond the treasured “fundamental principles of equality and free access” – this has evolved into a threat to government!
Deputy Premier Clay Serby said members of the broadcasting profession should review John Gormley’s Tuesday show, which Serby said enticed people to consider acts of civil disobedience.
“I have never seen, in my view, a piece of work that has created so much anxiety for people as what I’ve seen the last two days being reported by Mr. Gormley,” Serby said.
Yes there were anxious calls. Waiting for weeks to see a specialist while your health deteriorates and finances crumble can do that to a person.
During the show, Gormley played a clip from Calvert from Monday’s question period, when he stated, “It is one thing to criticize the system and it is appropriate, and it is appropriate when there is flaws that we discover those flaws and do the repair but you know, if you are going to be credible, you need to stand up and provide some alternative.”
After the clip, Gormley said, “You know what my alternative is, Lorne Calvert? Get the hell out of my way … Act like you are in charge and fix things. And if you can’t, get the hell out of the way, there are those who can.”
Gormley is bang on in this.
The NDP forfeited any right to cry foul over health care failures. This is the party that climbs aboard the Mediscare Express during every election, chasing the privatization bogeyman into seniors homes to frighten the elderly into believing the “scary fascists” will turn them into the streets to die.
“I’m of concern that yesterday’s broadcast and this morning’s has solicited a response from Saskatchewan people that is hugely troublesome, that you have an individual who phones in and says that had his presence been closer to this place, he may in fact be in jail today,” Serby said.
“Where then Mr. Gormley says that what he would like to see is he would like to see the health minister’s head on a platter … This kind of action, civil disobedience, that is perpetuated by a radio host is in my view over the line.”
Clay Serby was treated for cancer in 2004. Unlike others in the province, I think one can safely assume he wasn’t told he had a three month wait for an appointment with an oncologist.
Serby has not filed a complaint to a professional body yet about the
show, but he has asked to meet with the owners of the radio station to see if they condone the host’s conduct.
Don’t go anywhere just yet, folks. With all the gauntlet throwing going on, this story appears ripe to go national.
(Reports coming in from question period at the Leg this afternoon are that the session was a meltdown over the Gormley show. Hansard and video feed)
The Paige Hansen story isn’t going away. The radio airwaves have been burning with angry callers and others relating similar health system horror stories. CKOM broke the story, and has been following it closely ever since. The Saskatoon health authority is launching a review – an internal review.
From Question Period yesterday. (PDF) (The whole exchange is quite a read)
Babies come and go. But fundamental principles endure.
That of course, doesn’t mean that under the Calvert NDP, the system hasn’t done everything in its power to streamline – the Saskatchewan Surgical Care Network has a website that allows tracking of surgical wait times. They also feature a phone number you can call to find out where you are on the waiting list: 1-866-622-0222.
*RRRIIIINNNG*
“Due to the high volume of calls, it may take us a few days to get back to you.”
18 month old Paige Hansen is currently in a hospital in Edmonton. Her family finally decided Thursday to seek help elsewhere (doing so without “permission” from SaskHealth, and therefore at their own expense) after waiting three weeks for diagnosis of her pain in Saskatoon. The child was “screaming every waking minute”, and had stopped walking 6 days earlier. In the meantime, they were advised to give her children’s Tylenol.
According to a family member being interviewed, the care they received in Edmonton began immediately, testing was done during the first night there. This morning they have a preliminary diagnosis of leukemia.
You can listen live as the story is discussed this morning on John Gormley Live. (The show repeats in the evening for those who missed it – check the link for programming details).
