The early beginnings of Canada's public healtcare system were pioneered in the prairie province of Saskatchewan by the social democratic New Democratic Party which formed the government of that province. Despite outcries of opposition parties and doctors in the province, who feared restrictions to their freedom and government interference in the provision of healthcare, medicare quickly proved its value to the people and opposition fears proved unfounded.

The idea of socialized medicare proved unstoppable and today Canada has a national healthcare system protected by the Canada Health Act which still leaves the provinces some leaway in how they administer the system, but which has to conform to the national standards of the Health Act.

In the past four months I have had some personal experience with the provision of hospital care. In previous years I visited my physician only about once a year for a check-up (no charge of course) since I have been a healthy specimen all of my life. But this all changed in early May of this year when I started to lose weight, lost appetite and later on couldn't keep my food down. My doctor made arrangements to send me for an upper GI test at a local hospital, but I had to wait until June 7 before the test was done. By then I felt quite sick already. The test determined that there was a total blockage of the stomach and on June 9th I was hospitalized. Subsequently numerous X-rays were taken and CT scans were done, but these could not determine the cause of the blockage due to barium (taken during the upper GI test) that remained in my system and obscured the problem area.

On the 25th of June exploratory surgery was performed where it was determined that a malicious tumor on my pancreas was causing the blockage of the duodenum (the canal leading from the stomach to the small bowel). However. the skills and facilities to remove this tumor were not available at this hospital and it was decided to move me to a larger hospital facility elsewhere. On June 30 I was transferred by ambulance to this other hospital where a second surgery was performed on July 5th and the tumor removed. The recovery period was slow, especially because my stomach, due to more than a month of inactivity, did not want to start working again. All this time (since June 9th) I was fed intraveinously.

When at last my stomach reactivated and I could slowly start eating normally again I was released from the hospital on August 1st. So, after 7-1/2 weeks in hospital and two surgeries I was finally home again.

What is important to bring out however is not the details of my illness, but the fact that all this medical care was performed at no personal cost to me. Everything was covered by the public healthcare system, including the ambulance trip between the two hospitals. Coverage would also have included further homecare by means of daily visits by a nurse, had I needed this care, which fortunately I did not. Also included is any further follow-up treatment I require, possibly radiation or chemo therapy. To determine what treatment is appropriate, a (very expensive) MRI test will be performed on me shortly.

Truthfully, I have no idea what the cost of all this treatment really is. Perhaps I'll receive a statement of this one day. What I do know however is that, if I had to pay for this treatment out of my own pocket it would have meant financial ruin. So despite certain shortcomings in the healthcare system (especially long waiting times and a shortage of doctors and nurses), which are the result of cut-backs to the system during the 1990's, I feel privileged as a Canadian citizen to have this level of care provided to me and to any other Canadian who requires it. It defines Canada as a country where care for the wellbeing of its citizens rises above the need for private profit in optional private healthcare systems, where those who can't afford the premiums are left without proper care. And that is something Canadians can be truly proud of.

Note:

The federal and provincial governments are currently negotiating improvements to the healthcare system to shorten waiting times and staff shortages. In addition, the provinces propose the establishment of a full-fledged public pharmacare system to cover the costs of drugs.