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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (13248)	2/3/2010 11:55:42 PM
From: gg cox	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Ol Danny Boy has the bucks and he can go anywhere he wants.. it is his personal choice to make, as he is paying.I wish him a speedy recovery. I am still wondering if the jelly bean man stayed true to his convictions and paid for all his health till the day he died. Message 26154608 Message 26119359

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (13248)	2/4/2010 5:18:49 PM
From: Alastair McIntosh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Do you want to comment on the implications of your leaders going to America for their healthcare? Here is what some of Canada's leading cardiologists had to say: Cardiologists say Canada has cutting edge cardiac care, virtually no wait times By Helen Branswell Medical Reporter (CP) – 1 day ago TORONTO — Danny Williams' decision to seek care for an unnamed heart condition in the United States may raise questions about the calibre of cardiac care in Canada, but experts contend little differentiates the options north and south of the border. Leading cardiologists say levels of expertise in this country are high and the full range of cardiac procedures is performed here. And unlike years ago, wait times are short to non-existent. Where the systems differ is on the issue of patient volume, several suggested. Some Canadian centres occasionally refer patients to the U.S. for procedures rarely done in Canada, sending those patients to specialized American centres that perform those surgeries more often. "Really the only reason I can see patients wanting to go to the United States is . . . if they have something that's very unique in a centre that is doing some experimental work in some sort of area like that," said Dr. Blair O'Neill, a cardiologist at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton and vice-president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. None of the experts contacted by The Canadian Press knew what type of surgery the Newfoundland and Labrador premier is having done. Had they known, they would not be able to reveal it because of confidentiality rules. But several figures who know the cardiac care terrain here and in the United States suggested there are few medical reasons that a Canadian would need to seek care south of the border at this point. Major Canadian cardiac centres do virtually all the procedures U.S. centres do. Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale said getting the procedure done in Newfoundland was not an option. But cutting edge cardiac care is available at a number of centres in the country, including the Mazankowski institute, the Ottawa Heart Institute, the Montreal Heart Institute and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto. "I would say that 99 per cent of what's done there (in the U.S.) is done just as well, with excellent results and done routinely here at the Heart Institute in Ottawa," said Dr. Robert Roberts, president of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Roberts has first hand knowledge. Prior to joining the Ottawa Institute five years ago, he was head of cardiology at the famed Baylor Medical Center in Houston, Tex., for 23 years. Baylor is where the late cardiac care pioneer Dr. Michael DeBakey practised. When experts guess where Williams has gone, it's high on the list, along with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Several noted Williams may have sought care in the U.S. for privacy reasons. And O'Neill acknowledged some people still believe they will get better care at leading U.S. centres like the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. But several experts say that a Canadian might seek treatment in the United States for a rare condition that cardiac centres in this country treat infrequently. If that is the case, a patient's physician might feel it was more prudent to have the necessary surgery done at one of the major U.S. centres where these procedures are performed more often. For example, a couple of experts said a Canadian patient might wish to seek U.S. treatment for something like an aortic aneurysm, a weakening of the wall of the large vessel that conveys oxygenated blood from the heart to the organs. Such cases can be both complex and uncommon. "Because they are so rare, there's really no single centre across the country that has a large experience with these," said Dr. Christopher Feindel, a cardiac surgeon at Toronto's Peter Munk Centre. "And because they're fairly involved, obviously the results are better if they're done in a centre with lots of experience. And there's really very few centres worldwide with this experience." On the question of whether wait times might be behind a decision to go south, Roberts said his facility can get patients needing this kind of care in with very short notice, sometimes even a day. He said several factors have led to a substantial reduction in wait times in recent years. Rates of cardiac surgeries have been decreasing across the developed world. That's because developments in non-invasive procedures - slipping stents into arteries to prop them open rather than doing bypass surgery, for example - have eliminated many open heart surgeries. As well, more capacity has been built into the system. Feindel said the Munk's waiting time for non-emergency cases is within about two weeks. "Few patients really want to rush into a heart operation faster than that." It's likely Williams's case was not considered urgent if his doctors agreed to let him travel for care. google.com