Yes, socialized medicine is such a success. This is what we can expect during the reign of President Clinton.
Mothers in British Columbia are having a baby boom, but it’s the United States that has to deliver, and that has some proud Canadians blasting their highly touted government healthcare system.
“I’m a born-bred Canadian, as well as my daughter and son, and I’m ashamed,” Jill Irvine told FOX News. Irvine’s daughter, Carri Ash, is one of at least 40 mothers or their babies who’ve been airlifted from British Columbia to the U.S. this year because Canadian hospitals didn’t have room for the preemies in their neonatal units.
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Canada’s socialized health care system, hailed as a model by Michael Moore in his documentary, “Sicko,” is hurting, government officials admit, citing not enough money for more equipment and staff to handle high risk births.
Sarah Plank, a spokeswoman for the British Columbia Ministry of Health, said a spike in high risk and premature births coupled with the lack of trained nurses prompted the surge in mothers heading across the border for better care.
“The Canadian healthcare system has used the United States as a safety net for years,” said Michael Turner of the Cato Institute. “In fact, overall about one out of every seven Canadian physicians sends someone to the United States every year for treatment.”
Mark Horne’s has a particularly funny headline:
Perhaps in four years they will fly over us to deliver in Mexico
I suggest that all our Canadian readers pray that Clinton isn’t our next president or you will have a long trek to find relief from your overburdened healthcare system.
But Canada is not alone, in Brittan a couple is forced to have their baby at home due to overcrowding at the hospital:
But on the day of the birth, she was twice turned away from the hospital because it was full – forcing her partner to deliver the baby himself at their home.
Miss Jones, 24, and her partner Anthony Jones – who coincidentally share the same surname – dashed to their local maternity unit when she started to have strong contractions.
However, their excitement at the prospect of the birth soon turned to horror when staff on the ward told them: “Sorry we are full. Come back later.”
Medics at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, near Cardiff, insisted the baby would not arrive for hours and suggested the couple go and have a cup of coffee while they tried to free up a bed.
Three hours later, they returned to the hospital when Miss Jones’s contractions became more frequent.
This time she was given a thorough examination by a midwife who confidently sent them away for the second time, telling them the baby was still “hours away”.
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“You hear so much about the NHS being under pressure but you would think that maternity would be a priority. Many things can wait for a later appointment – but never a baby.
posted October 19, 2007 at 11:07 am
If they deliver their baby in the US, then the baby is a US citizen. It might be something more than the health care system inspiring them to have their babies here.
posted October 19, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Hi Michele;You just knew I would comment on this one.My wife I san x-ray technologist, sister is a nurse, other sister chief medical stenographer, sister in-law is a also an x-ray tech, and another sister in-law is a nuke-med-tech, all in Vancouver BC and surrounding areas, all in different major hospitals. By the way we have many friends who are in these fields now working in the US, including doctor friends.I have been countering much of what Mr. Moore is saying on many blogs in this regard.When it comes to emergent care Canada is equal to (some would say surpassing) the US this is without question, our emergent care is excellent as is yours.When it comes to being sent to specialists for non-emergent care we are not as good. While it is true that some Canadians get transferred to the US for medical services this is also reciprocated with the US, yes there are also some US citizens who come here for medical services, every day.Our system is broken, because it is paid for with tax dollars people tend to think of it as “free” but of course it isn’t we pay for it with taxes. Therefore the system gets burdened by people that are using the system excessively. Of course there is also the global decline in expertise in the medical sector (just because half my family works ion the sector does not mean this is true of everyone
The rise of high tech computer systems has actually created so many competing sectors with the medical sector that people are often going into fields where they don’t have to care for people. This shift has grown along with technological innovations that have also been applied to the medical sector but it is no longer seen as “sexy”.Many of our Canadian medical friends are starting to come back from the States as one of the big draws was your big dollar but now that the Canadian dollar is higher than the US buck. Plus with Canada being number two in the world in oil (many believe number one) and with the price of oil our economy is booming so spending is starting to increase in the medical sector (this looks like it should be till the oil runs out or there is an alternative, by the way did you know we are your number one provider of oil?).Still the waiting lists for some medical procedures is much too long and it will take a while to catch up, but it may not take as long as we thought if we now start importing more US doctors, there are some who come here to practice believe it or not.The thing is the US system is also broken (note US persons that come here for medical services) and there are far too many people without good coverage, whatever the debatable number is this is still unacceptable in a modern society.
posted October 19, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Hi Looney;Nice to see you here, most people getting their babies delivered in the US from Canada have been sent there by the system not by choice; as is true of US citizens coming to Canada. It is normally just medical necessity.
posted October 19, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Thanks LS. I know a number of Asians who have come to the US on holiday, delivered a US citizen into the world, and then returned home as soon as the baby’s passport was issued. That would be easier from Canada, but as you say, things are looking better in Canada these days, so why bother?
posted October 19, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Hi Looney;That doesn’t surprise me that people would do that kind of thing, and I am sure there must be some people from Canada have done that, I know people form the US that have done it the other way around! There are many people that have generations of relatives on both sides of the boarder.In the past people would at times use Canada as a launch pad for the US, it seems to be a lot less common these days. Canada like the US is a great place to live and people that at fist were going to enter the US from Canada now stay here instead, our multi-cultural system is extremely popular and successful, along with that immigration has proven to be a dynamic economic “turbo boost” for Canada. We certainly need the additions to our population, and have a lot of space to share.Another large factor is that many Asian countries are doing far better than in the past so the allure of the West is not what it was.