Hello, Nolie here from Nolie’s Place. Trisha had put out a call for guest posts while we wait for her new bundle of joy to join us in this world. I answered but didn’t have a clue what to write about. Then I remembered the time she was not sure if something was wrong but did not want to spend the money to go to the emergency room for nothing. That inspired this post. I hope you enjoy it.
A Canadians View on Our Free Health Care
Canadians are famous for saying to Americans “At least we have free health care”. I know this because I am one of those Canadians. However I am not blind either.
Our health care system is a joke.
Every month approximately half of Tobei’s pay check goes to taxes. These taxes are to cover things like health care, social housing, welfare and many other programs in our beautiful country. If I have an emergency I can go to the hospital or a doctor and not worry about being able to afford it. I can have a baby and not worry about the medical costs. This is awesome. However here is my problem. I can call my doctor for an appointment because I am sick and yet she can not see me for 2 weeks. This doesn’t work. So I can go to a walk in clinic where I get to wait for an average of 4 hours on a good day to see the doctor. My other option is the hospital where I can expect to wait a good 12 hours.
Don’t even get me started on if we need to see a specialist. Take for example my mom, she has been referred to the parkinsons clinic for some testing. The wait list….. 6 FREAKING MONTHS!!! Forget if you need a cat scan unless you are literally dying right there on the spot, again you are looking at months on end on the wait list. Your what could be a minor problem is then a major problem and possibly untreatable by the time it is detected. Totally unacceptable in my opinion.
Do you need surgery?
Well, you better have a lot of patience. Hospitals are having to cut beds left right and centre due to budget shortages. Again you can be waiting months for that surgery. Take my mom for example again. They thought she had a cancerous tumor on her ovary. After about 4 months we get to her surgery date but they have no beds so they reschedule for the next week. Next week comes and they have a bed….. in the freaking hallway.
No room for my mom, no privacy, nothing.
This ladies and gentlemen is what is known as our “health care” in Canada. We don’t even have options for better health care.
This is it, take it or leave it.
~Nolie
