Commentary
The week spanning July 10–17 was a revealing one for Canadian health care, and what we have witnessed is not good.
In Fredericton, N.B., a senior passed away while waiting for care at a hospital emergency department. A witness noted that the man was “clearly in discomfort,” yet it wasn’t enough to gain the attention of health-care workers. He eventually slumped over and died from a heart attack. Premier Blaine Higgs responded to the resultant public outcry by firing both his health minister and the CEO of the health authority that oversees the hospital.
Things were no better in Ontario, where a 76-year-old cyclist with a broken leg was left to languish on a stretcher in the hallway of a small local hospital for four days. The problem? He needed surgery at the London Health Sciences Centre and it did not have any available beds….