Saskatchewan doctor shortages: Humanism vs. Structuralism

The disproportionate, poor health outcomes experienced by First Nations Canadians have been attributed to an uncoordinated and fragmented health care system. This system is rooted in colonial legislation and social policies that have created jurisdictional ambiguity and long-standing confusion among federal, provincial and First Nations governments as to who is responsible for First Nations health care (Kelly, 2011; Lavoie, 2013). The responsibility of healthcare resembles a “political football and while it is being passed back and forth, the health status of First Nations people remains the lowest of any segment of the population (Cook, 2011, p. 40). Despite attempts over the last 40 years to address this pressing social issue, the absence

With the existing trend of shortages in healthcare providers and professionals, the recruitment and retention of this type of staff in a rural area may

The Kirby and Romanow Reports were commissioned by different subsections of the Canadian government to give an overall view of the nation’s health care status and future recommendations for bettering the health care system. Senator Michael Kirby released the Final report on the state of health care in Canada on October 23, 2002 on behalf of the State Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (Kirby, 2002). The Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada chose former Saskatchewan premier Mr. Roy Romanow to ask citizens across the country their issues, thoughts and concerns regarding current and future status of the nation’s health care system. This inquiry resulted

In order to sustain the health care system, the Canadian government needs to strategically plan for the years ahead and invest more in preventative care rather than curative care. Canada should enforce non-medical health policies which are not only going to promise healthy living for

This paper will discuss the Canadian healthcare system compared to the United States healthcare system. Although they’re close in proximity, these two nations have very different health care systems. Each healthcare system has its own difficulties, and is currently trying to find ways to improve. Canada currently uses the Universal Health Care system; which provides healthcare coverage to all Canadian citizens (Canadian Health Care, 2007). The services are executed on both a territorial and provincial basis, by staying within the guidelines that have been enforced by the federal government (Canadian Health Care, 2007).

The three issues that these experts notice include: the very poor management with lack of leadership, overspending on medication, doctors, and facilities; and lack of information being circulated throughout the health care service. Rachel Mendleson of the Canadian Business archive explains some of the problems with our current health care system in detail. To start off with, management is labelled as being very inefficient. Money is being wasted, there is a lack of desire to scavenge valuable information for better treatment, keeping records of treatment outcomes, and reducing the chances of unnecessary duplicate treatments. (Mendleson) It is argued that our health care system would benefit more if it would be viewed as a corporation with strong and co-ordinated leadership, planning, and spending. It is clear that the state of the health care system right now appears to be disorganized and poorly managed. An effective solution would be to introduce a system of corresponding responsibilities among different members in this field. This way, someone will be liable to provide effective management and explanations how the money will be spent. (Mendleson) This brings up the next issue of overspending towards medication, doctors, and hospitals. Rachel Mendleson writes, “the share of drugs in the total health expenditure increased from 9.5% to 16.5%... evidence suggests that Government

Canada’s healthcare cost constitutes a large share of GDP. Although this may be a good thing as it reflects on a country’s increased wealth and ability to pay for valued care, however in the case of Canada, there is a strongly held belief that the growth rate in Canada is not sustainable nor is it necessarily improving our outcomes.

In the book on a citizens guidelines to policy and politics, Katherine Fierlbeck argues that “The 1983 Canada Health Act replaced the 1947 Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services act because of the shift from a system of 50-50 federal-provincial cost sharing to a system of block funding established in Ottawa in 1977” (Fierlbeck 2011, pg.20). Until the period of the mid 1980’s, the Canadian health care system is to be categorized in a disarray, having no foundation to components and accomplishment. The system is to rely mainly on cost sharing; whereby in a health insurance policy only a portion is paid by the health insurance. While enabling the insured party to pay a portion of the price of covered services. In this case, cost sharing is based on 50-50 provincial and federal cost-sharing agreement to a fault. By Ottawa giving tax transfers to the provinces in replacement of direct transfers, but the federal government had no capacity to conceal cash. This in return is able to affect provinces because it deprived the federal government effective, efficient, and responsive measure of provinces holding the five principles of the Canada health care. According to About Canada Health Care, Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong speaks about the five principles of health care, which are; “Public administration, Comprehensiveness, Universality, Portability, and Accessibility” (Pat Armstrong & Hugh Armstrong 2008, pg.28). These five principles holds the provinces accountable to the

The Canadian health care system is funded majorly by the public, with very few private donations. Over the past few decades acts of large-scale philanthropy by wealthy private donors have started to increase, due to the investments in social programs and infrastructure from the government declining. Without the aid of private donors and large sources of income from outside of the public (government) the infrastructure of all hospitals, clinics, and the totality of western healthcare systems would collapse and ultimately fail as the system is set up presently. There is an opportunity of keeping a healthy and happy society sustained by public funds, as long as the government is able to step up and provide the healthcare system with enough funds, making the donations from philanthropists an excess instead of a necessity.

While many may argue that the Canadian health care system provides equal treatment to every Canadian, evidence shows that this is not the case. There are major discrepancies within the system regarding Indigenous people that need to be addressed including several factors such as: housing issues, stereotypes Aboriginals face and the lack of Aboriginal doctors.

Bernstein is very familiar with medical and healthcare terminology, much more so than the average person; however, his language is familiar enough for an educated reader to follow along. With his experience as a blogger, he uses casual language to explain the economic side of the doctor shortage. Bernstein addresses, “The organization called on Congress to raise the federal cap on slots for medical residents at teaching hospitals by 3,000 annually, at a cost it estimated would be about $1 billion per year.” Most people don’t know what a medical residency is and how it works, but Bernstein’s language indicates that a residency, which is a part of a physician’s training, involves the government’s money and the limited number of slots at a hospital. This helps the reader better understand that job and educational opportunities are still limited for doctors, thus contributing to a doctor shortage. The use of diction helps Bernstein effectively explain the economic side of the anticipated

Yet the strings on the public purse continue to tighten. Transfer payments from the federal government continue to decrease as provincial debt loads increase. And, although the minister of health and the premier assured them that the costs of health care were doubling or even tripling, Albertans have witnessed a steady decline in government spending on health care. The proportion of gross domestic product, (GDP), which Alberta allocates to health care is ranked last among the ten provinces, (Taft, 1997). Albertans now find themselves with a struggling health care system and a waiting list.

Another threat is the current state of rural hospitals nationwide. According to the case study, about 25% of Americans live in rural areas and only about 10% of physicians actually practice in rural areas. There is a 15% gap in the ratio of rural citizens to available practicing physicians. This is a threat to ELH’s need to attract and hire more physicians. In relation to rural hospitals, citizens have longer drive times to their medical facilities. This causes them to delay routine visits which subsequently exacerbates

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health is responsible for ensuring that health services are provided in accordance to the Canada Health Act. This includes providing operation funds, arising from both federal and provincial taxation, to the regional health authorities.

Actually, I do not have any practice. I am struggling to get the Canadian Medical Council Licence. I wish I could. However, There is a very depressing situation for IMG in Canada. Doctors left their job and as an emigrate to Canada, But they couldn't join to the Health system and they can not use their valuable experience in their new country. This is a tragedy for both sides, For IMG they have got depress and may move to the other country or shift to the other job and take no action and just living as innocent by stander on the other side Canadian government can not liquidize these big amount of capital. They lose this big investment. I am sure there is a solution for this case. I have a