Healthcare in Canada can be improved; that’s an understatement. In his letter in the February 14 issue (Our medical “system”), Maurice Chenier doesn’t mention that Quebec’s health system is currently under “reform”. The CAQ government established a new health agency, Santé Quebec, but little is known about its ‘fixes’ except that its head, a businessman, will receive a salary close to a million dollars.
There have been no assurances that the reform will help emergency or surgery wait times. Those delivering health care— doctors, nurses, aides and technicians—receive scant mention in the reform, even though they’re the central and most important part of the health system. The government thinks bureaucrats are the most important part; they’re a government tool to keep the health system in check by watching costs and delivering services according to budgets, not according to the needs of the people.
Carl Hager,
GATINEAU
