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National Post Wed Apr 15 2015

However, the fact that the Ontario government currently borrows about $20 billion a year despite its own balanced budget law shows how easily such rules are flouted. The federal budget will remain balanced not because of this law, but because the government has capped its future liability for health care transfers and pension obligations and begun the long, arduous process of reining in the compensation of its employees.

Structural deficits exist in Canada, but at the provincial not the federal level. The provinces already are mired in large debts and deficits, even before the real tsunami hits from soaring health care spending for an aging population. The token restraint offered by Alberta and Quebec in their recent budgets shows that the provinces are not yet willing to tackle the fundamental reforms needed to how they deliver education and health care and the outrageous compensation their employees receive. The provinces' desperate need for revenues is why none even bother pretending that the various carbon tax proposals currently circulating will be revenue neutral, as intended by their naïve academic proponents, leaving us with a more burdensome and not a more efficient tax regime.

Montreal Gazette Thu Apr 9 2015

With just over two weeks to moving day, hundreds of Royal Victoria Hospital employees say they don't know what jobs they will be doing at the new superhospital. The hospital is not prepared, said Mary Ann Davis, secretary general of the McGill University Hospital Centre Employees' Union, representing 4,800 staff at the MUHC. "And it's totally unnecessary." While no move is easy, she said, such "chaos" so close to moving time is causing staff additional stress and turning lives upside down.

The $1.3-billion superhospital on the Glen site in Notre-Damede-Grâce is to open on April 26. Under a tightly run schedule starting at 7 a.m., an estimated 200 patients will leave the grounds by ambulance or medicar, one every three minutes - until everyone is transferred and the hospital shuts down at about 5 p.m. But the next day's operation remains a great mystery, union officials say. What is in store for a large chunk (an estimated 30 per cent) of the 1,900 workers in housekeeping, clerical, laundry and food services, transportation and other support staffcurrently on the job at the Royal Vic? Many don't even know what department they will be going to, she added. An estimated 200 union members are expected demonstrate at the Royal Victoria Hospital on Thursday at noon to highlight "a lack of organization." It will be the first of three demonstrations held - including a picket line on moving day - unless their concerns are addressed.

National Post Tue Apr 14 2015

I magine having to choose between putting food on the table or buying necessary medication. Research suggests this is the case for one in 10 Canadians who can't afford to fill their prescriptions. Canada is the only country with universal health care that does not also have universal drug coverage. Even for those who do have private or public drug coverage, there are discrepancies in what and who is covered from province to province. Canadians also pay more for drugs than citizens in almost any other Western nation. These are just a few of the arguments that have reignited calls for a national pharmacare program. It is not a new concept, but one that is gaining traction as leaders are turning over every stone to "bend the cost curve" in health care downward. In a recently published study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), health economists and researchers concluded a universal drug program could actually save Canadians billions of dollars. Great savings are achieved by pooling provincial and territorial needs and resources to increase buying power, eliminate duplication and establish a platform for collaboration and cost-sharing. If health-care leaders are looking for proof that provinces and territories can do more together than they can on their own when it comes to the provision of life-saving and enhancing drug therapies, they need look no further than the blood system they created close to 20 years ago.

Many are aware that since its creation in 1998, Canadian Blood Services has been in the business of collecting, processing and distributing blood components in all provinces and territories outside Quebec. But few realize we have also been running a national formulary of biological drugs, providing universal and equitable access to plasma-derived medicine at no cost to patients for nearly two decades. Our organization has sole responsibility for managing a national portfolio of plasma-derived products and their synthetic alternatives worth about $500 million a year. These life-saving pharmaceuticals are used to treat people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, patients with inherited and acquired immune disorders, burn and trauma victims, and many others. A national, scalable, cost-shared infrastructure and logistics network ensures the right product gets to the right patient, at the right time.

Montreal Gazette Fri Mar 20 2015

The wiring of the new operating rooms at the MUHC's $1.3-billion superhospital is not adequate to run a key piece of surgical equipment, the Montreal Gazette has learned. The hospital is also facing a shortage of trained operating room nurses. MUHC officials are rushing to fix the problems before the superhospital opens on April 26 in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, but the number of elective surgeries could be affected during the first few months - causing increases in wait times, a staffmember who works in the ORs said. "In practical terms, they won't immediately be able to have the same number of planned surgeries," added the source, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition his name not be published because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"They're going to ramp up the number of cases over several months. It may take longer than they expected strictly because they won't have the personnel available." The move to the superhospital on the site of the former Glen railway yard is a huge undertaking. It involves transferring thousands of patients and stafffrom the Royal Victoria, Montreal Chest and Montreal Children's hospitals to one site. It also involves training employees at the Glen site and calibrating thousands of pieces of medical equipment. The MUHC was supposed to take possession of the new complex from design-build contractor SNC-Lavalin on Sept. 30, but both sides wrangled over cost overruns of $172 million. As a result, the MUHC didn't actually get the keys for the facilities until Nov. 7, causing delays in the activation of equipment.

12 Ways to Strike on May 1st 2015 !

The Leader-Post (Regina) Tue Dec 22 2015

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Saskatchewan is asking the federal health minister to review the Wall government's Bill 179, which permits private userpay MRI facilities in the province. The bill was passed by the government on Nov. 4 with the goal that it would be proclaimed in February before voters head to the polls in April.

Under the bill, when a patient elects to pay for an MRI out-ofpocket, the private clinic that does that MRI must provide a free scan for someone on the public wait-list.

CMAJ December 8, 2015 vol. 187 no. 18 First published November 9, 2015, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.109-5191

Carolyn Brown

After years of erosion, doctors’ share of health spending has rebounded to levels last seen in the 1980s, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s (CIHI’s) annual release of national health expenditure data. But it comes from a pie that is slowly shrinking, as health spending has not kept pace with inflation and population growth.

20 janvier 2016

Les ministres de la Santé du Canada se réunissent avec leur homologue fédéral aujourd’hui et demain à Vancouver. Le SCFP-Québec demande au gouvernement du Québec et au gouvernement fédéral de Justin Trudeau de conclure rapidement un nouvel Accord sur la santé avec les provinces.

The Globe and Mail Thu Jan 21 2016

Provincial and territorial health ministers have agreed to begin talks on improving access to prescription drugs, and are asking the new federal government to join the discussions. The move, which gained the support of health ministers during a meeting in Vancouver on Wednesday, is the first step toward the possible inclusion of a national pharmacare plan in a new health accord, said Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins, who introduced the proposal. Mr. Hoskins, who has long pushed for more equitable access to pharmaceuticals, said the current negotiations on a new health deal provide a unique opportunity for governments to consider what a Canadian pharmacare plan might look like.

Such a plan might be a combination of public and private insurance, he suggested, that could start with an agreement among governments about what prescription drugs to cover. "I like to believe we have a generational opportunity to really create a visionary document," Mr. Hoskins said in an interview on Wednesday. While there is no guarantee that Canadian governments can agree on a national drug plan, he said, they need to try. "It would be unfortunate if we didn't take advantage of the opportunity and at least do the hard work to look at the possibilities and to have the courage to dream and to think of the bigger vision." A working group set up by the provinces will look at improving "equitable and appropriate access to pharmaceuticals based on evidence," according to a release issued after the closeddoor meeting.

Calgary Herald Wed Dec 2 2015

In his mandate letter to Health Minister Jane Philpott, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells her to "strengthen our publicly funded health-care system." He will meet with premiers.

A new health accord is to be negotiated. Health Minister Sarah Hoffman has started upgrades to Alberta's neglected infrastructure. All good news that will help HMS Health Care remain afloat. But, there are woodpeckers at the waterline.

Montreal Gazette Thu Dec 3 2015

It might sound far-fetched, but officials at the McGill University Health Centre now believe that too many tampons being flushed down toilets in one concentrated area of the superhospital is the main cause of the sewage backups that flooded the birthing centre last August.

When it opened on April 26, the superhospital at the Glen site consolidated onto a single floor women's clinical activities that used to be scattered on different floors and buildings of the old Royal Victoria Hospital on University St.

Montreal Gazette Tue Dec 1 2015

Parents who are being directed to a private children's clinic in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce by the Mc-Gill University Health Centre are upset that they now have to pay a $25 fee for parking in addition to being charged for certain allergy and blood tests.

The MUHC Users' Committee contends that the parking fee at 5100 de Maisonneuve Blvd. constitutes a "barrier to care," given that parents are already being asked to pay fees for tests that used to be covered under medicare at the former location of the Montreal Children's Hospital on Tupper St. The outdoor parking lot is part of a property at that is being managed by the MUHC.

Toronto Star Wed Dec 16 2015

Valeant Pharmaceuticals plans to deliver up to $600 million (U.S.) in annual savings to the U.S. health-care system starting next year after agreeing to cut the prices of several of its drugs as part of distribution agreements with the popular Walgreens retail chain. The Quebec-based company said it will drop wholesale prices for branded prescription-based skin-and eye-care products by 10 per cent.

The price cuts under the 20-year agreement with one of the largest American drug chains will be introduced in six to nine months, with the potential for other therapeutic treatments being added to the program. Walgreens will also distribute more than 30 of Valeant's branded products at comparable generic prices, starting in the second half of 2016. The average price decrease is expected to be more than 50 per cent, with reduced prices ranging between 5 and 95 per cent.

The Globe and Mail Sat Oct 24 2015

Mr. Trudeau has promised to convene a first-minister's conference on health care to establish funding and priorities for the decade ahead. That could be a very expensive meeting. The last time one was held, in 2004, Liberal prime minister Paul Martin agreed to increase funding by 6 per cent a year - three times the rate of inflation - for 10 years. The provinces agreed to spend the money in priority areas, such as improving patient wait times, and to report on their progress. Most of those pledges fell by the wayside. In essence, the provinces took the money and spent it as they saw fit.

The Tories had committed to increasing health funding at the same rate as the gross domestic product. Mr. Trudeau is committed to spending more, given that the population is aging and health-care costs continue to rise. A return to the 6-per-cent escalator would increase federal spending by something like $35-billion over 10 years.

October 22, 2015

More than 1,400 health and social service staff to walk off the job Oct. 26

Hundreds of health care and social service workers in Nunavik have voted to strike Oct. 26, one of a number of strike days planned to put pressure on the Quebec government during contract negotiations.

By RYAN MEILI

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Extra billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on their patients, but on our public health care system as well.

The Globe and Mail Thu Apr 7 2016

A majority of Canadians do not want minors or people with mental illnesses and psychiatric conditions to be given access to doctor-assisted dying, a new Nanos Research/Globe and Mail poll has found.

The poll suggests Canadians would prefer that the federal government follow a restrictive path as it decides which patients have the right to end their suffering in a medical setting. While there is no doubt that doctorassisted dying will become legal, there is a continuing debate about exactly who will have access, and under which conditions.

heglobeandmail.com Fri Apr 8 2016,

JEFFREY SIMPSON

The year was 2004. Paul Martin was prime minister. A set of premiers different from those of today sat with him to negotiate what became a 10-year, $41-billion investment in health care, indexed yearly at 6 per cent. Their accord aimed at many targets, but one stood out - waiting times. Why? Because they were unacceptably long, a blight on the country's beloved health-care system. They also seemed to be the sharpest point of public anxiety about the system.

The Globe and Mail Wed Aug 31 2016

Brian Day, a crusader for greater private health-care access, will be in a Vancouver courtroom next week for the start of a lawsuit challenging provincial rules that pertain to his clinic's practice of billing patients for procedures offered in the public system. While the hearing challenging B.C. regulations that ban private care for medically necessary services is expected to last six months, a bullish Dr. Day said in an interview on Tuesday that victory is inevitable "because we're right." The hearing begins next Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court. On one side is the Cambie Surgery Centre, which describes itself as Canada's only free-standing hospital of its kind, as well as patients who are listed in the lawsuit as plaintiffs. On the other side is British Columbia's Medical Services Commission and the provincial Health Ministry.

The case promises to reignite a debate whose last major legal test occurred in 2005, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a Quebec ban on private health care was unconstitutional. Dr. Day is the medical director at the Cambie clinic, which specializes in anthroposcopic surgery and allows patients to pay out-of-pocket rather than wait for care in the public system. The provincial government has previously audited the clinic and alleged its billing practices were illegal, though for years it did little to actually intervene. Dr. Day and his patients argue that restrictions on private care are unconstitutional. The orthopedic surgeon and past-president of the Canadian Medical Association said he is motivated by a key belief. "You should not suffer or die because of a wait list," he said. "Access to a waiting list is not access to health care." The B.C. government says it is simply enforcing the law.