Canada's health-care system 'not all that it's cracked up to be': Health PEI CEO
On Wednesday, leaders of Prince Edward Island’s health authority were questioned at a government committee meeting.
But they also laid out what’s plaguing health care, as well as what’s needed to improve the industry.
Dr. Michael Gardam, the chief executive officer of Health PEI, said at the meeting that 95 per cent of the problems related to health care on the island are related to staffing.
In an interview with CTV Atlantic, Gardam doubled down on his comments, noting part of the issue with recruiting and retention is “self-inflicted.”
“Our government system has been slow to evolve, to be really nimble, to be able to hire people as quickly as possible,” said Gardam.
A lot of the difficulty to adequately staff the health-care system comes to restrictions on workers like foreign-trained doctors, he said.
“Our system has been the way it is for the last 50, 60 years, and I think we’re finally reaching the point where people realize the Canadian system is not all that it’s cracked up to be and we need to make changes,” said Gardam.
But those fixes, Gardam warned, will be anything but quick. He said it will take years to reform the health-care system.
“Forty per cent of students at a school in Dublin are Canadians, but are considered foreign medical grads,” said Gardam. “The chances are the vast majority of those trainees are going to the U.S. Why do we let our system be that way? We can actually change those things.”
With the prime minister set to meet with Canadian premiers next week to discuss further federal funding for health care, Gardam believes it’s time to start having “frank and honest conversations” about what the Canadian system can and can’t deliver.
“We’ve always been told we have the best health-care system in the world and I think Canada has woken over the last few years to realize that we don’t,” said Gardam. “That’s something we’ve told ourselves, we’ve felt pretty smug about it. But we were always comparing ourselves to the United States.”
Gardam noted, when comparing Canada to other developed countries across the globe, it’s clear Canada has one of the most expensive health-care systems, as well as some of the worst outcomes, longest wait lists and the fewest number of hospital beds.
While he says he doesn’t advocate in either direction, Gardem believes it’s time to start considering how private services can help remedy a plagued health-care system.
He pointed out that roughly one-third of Canadian health care is private, adding every fee-for-service doctor is a private corporation, as well as pharmacies.
“We already have a lot of private health care in Canada, in fact, we have the same proportion that the United States does,” said Gardam. “What we need to figure out is if we’re going to allow more private corporations into Canadian health care.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.