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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, May 27, 2009 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Donna Anderson Wood Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Former East Bloc countries health care systems beat Canada's By Ben Eisen, Policy Analyst, Frontier Centre for Public Policy The Canadian health care system is opaque, unconcerned with patient satisfaction and, of course, has lengthy waiting times for medical services as a defining feature. Canadians are aware of these problems, but many accept them as the unfortunate but inevitable consequence of universal coverage; that's because they believe our model is better than "the alternative," a supposedly wholly private Americanstyle system which leaves millions uninsured and without access to quality care. But the Canada-U.S. comparison is stale. A better one is to compare Canada with Europe. In Europe, universal coverage is achieved through a publicly-funded system but without the inefficiencies and delays which plague Canadian health care. The gap between the quality of health care enjoyed by most Europeans and that received by Canadians is strikingly large. A recent Frontier Centre study compares Canada to European countries on a wide variety of indicators of health care quality and ranks Canada 23rd out of the 32 nations surveyed. That Canada's health care system falls far short of the wealthy countries of Western Europe might come as no surprise. But what is startling is that Canada also ranks below several poorer nations in Eastern and Southern Europe, such as Slovakia and Estonia. Despite levels of per capita health care spending near the top of the pack, Canada shares the bottom tier in the results rankings on health care systems with middleincome nations like Latvia and Romania. One critical difference between European health care systems and Canada's is that Europeans do not endure the stressful and often painful waiting periods with which Canadian patients are all too familiar. For example, when sick, consider the reasonable desire of patients to see their family doctor as soon as possible. When asked how quickly they received an appointment with their family doctor the last time they requested care, just 22% of Canadians report receiving an appointment on that same day. What's more, 30% endured a lengthy wait of more than six days before they could see a physician. By comparison, in the United Kingdom, 41%of respondents received an appointment on the same day they requested care and only 12% were forced to wait for more than six days. Here's another example. The typical waiting period for an MRI examination in Canada is over two months; in Ontario, the median wait time is two-and-a-half months. In the highperforming European health care systems, the waiting period for an MRI exam is generally less than three weeks; in Switzerland, the waiting period is routinely less than seven days. These examples illustrate how many European countries succeed in providing health care coverage to all citizens but yet avoid the delays and inefficiencies endemic in Canada's system. So how do they do it? European governments embrace delivery models that foster competition between insurers and providers within a universal publicly-funded system, and which by their design reward excellence among health care institutions and professionals. In Sweden, for example, hospitals compete for customers and are paid (by the government) a per-treatment fee for each different service provided. This approach has led to dramatic increases in hospital productivity and efficiency since its introduction in the early 1990s; it's provided a powerful incentive for hospitals to focus on the needs of health-care consumers. Under this model, hospital budgets are determined by productivity and responsiveness to consumer demand and not the confusing and opaque bureaucratic processes that govern hospital budgets in Canada. By looking to Europe for inspiration on health care, Canada can transform our inefficient and bureaucratic system and yet maintain universal coverage. Canadians have spent enough money for a world-class health system for decades. It's about time we get what we've paid for. Letters to the Editor Kendal Eagles To the Editor: On Monday, May 18th, my husband and I attended the opening game of the season for the Kendal Eagles Baseball Club. I want to commend everyone involved in this organization for their dedication and commitment to baseball for so many years. I also want to thank them for their always thoughtful remembrance of previous players who have contributed to the team (as per the program). Best of luck in this new season. Go Eagles Go! Eleanor Shetler Orono Reverend Pam As my Dad's life ebbed away we were standing in the hall for a moment when a lady in a stiff collar came by. We introduced ourselves and spoke briefly of our circumstances. Pam said she would be pleased to meet my Dad so we stepped into his room and I asked Dad to tell Pam the story of how he met my Mom. One story led to another and Pam listened for some time while Dads eyes glistened as the old stories I'd heard so many times brought tender smiles to the new listeners face. As Dad grew tired Pam said goodbye and we talked once again outside the door. Pam seemed to radiate tenderness and understanding and somehow her visit had, for me, broken through a barrier. My voice quivered when I asked her to do the service for my Dad. Her response seemed to lift a huge weight as we hugged and bid adieu. "Don't worry I'm yours for the day" was her reply. I met with her several times before the service, she came to the visitation and I have seen her since. Each time her smile gives me a sense that she knows what I'm feeling and is feeling it with me. The last time I saw Pam was at a funeral service for a young woman who had taken her own life, a tragic occasion in a cathedral filled to capacity. There amongst the congregation was Pam. I don't know if she knew any of the family PAM see page 7 Alice in Fantasyland To the Editor, "We can't recycle those," said the Red Queen, observing mulch bags in the blue box. "You're such a dreamer." "But ma'am," said Alice, "they have the R symbol. Why are we stuck in 2010, and whatever happened to those enviro-jobs we were planning on?" "Our leaders have not yet understood the planet as an eco-system, a living, breathing entity, choking and gagging on our mis-use; Chief Seattle was right - everything we do affects everything elseand the earth has many ways of flinging us off. Anyway, building the latest fire-box burnt up all the money." "We're still slogging along, heads in the sand, living in the past," said Alice. "Why don't grown-ups love the earth the way kids do?" Pat Lycett Orono