Blue Like You

While the Toronto Sun is busy savaging Dalton McGuinty for not allowing Ombudsman Andre Marin to investigate hospitals among other areas, we learn today that Health Minister George Smitherman is being moved to a power portfolio of Energy and Infrastructure.

David Caplan of Lottogate fame is taking over Health. McGuinty obviously has no concerns about gambling with the health of Ontario citizens.

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Friday Update: Caplan’s no picture of health - Sun.

Saturday Update : Controversy dogs Minister switching jobs - Globe.

Tuesday Update - Smitherman: Less talk, more walk. (Sun)

Why won’t the Ontario Government allow Ombudsman Andre Marin to have his areas of oversight extended to hospitals?

According to Marin, "Ontario remains the only province that doesn’t allow its ombudsman to investigate hospitals and long-term care homes." (Sun)

Marin feels that since health care comprises such a huge portion of the provincial budget, and there are problems deliberately kept away from the public scrutiny such as C difficile, that he should be allowed to investigate (Star):

Ontario’s ombudsman says the superbug C. difficile, which has cost the lives of about 260 people, would have been investigated by now if the government wasn’t too frightened of embarrassment to let him do it.

André Marin says he’s "uncovered a treasure trove of government maladministration" and that it’s time the province let him look at hospitals.

Right now, hospitals are beyond Marin’s investigative powers and he used the release of his annual report yesterday to demand change.

"With the annual health-care budget eating up a whopping $40 billion, or 40 per cent of the government’s total spending, it’s unthinkable that this sector isn’t subject to the same kind of oversight as the rest of government," Marin said…

Health Minister George Smitherman has responded that "It’s not in the government’s plans to move forward on".

And why would you, if you are in control of the majority of the bobbleheads in Queen’s Park, and are already planning your third term?

Why in heaven’s name would you jeopardize your political standing for values that are as insignificant as integrity, accountability and the safeguarding of human life?

Because it’s all about staying in power , right George?

And BTW, where exactly is that Health Tax going?

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Related: No minimum standard for senior care - Star.

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11 AM Update: NDP MPP France Gelinas is pressing this issue right now in the Legislature. Good for her!

Andrea Horwath is raising a similar issue regarding CAS, which the Ombudsman suggested should also be under his purview.

Good work, ladies! Keep the heat up.

Afternoon Update: McGuinty to shake up cabinet. (Check out the Globe comments.)

Via Dr. Fullerton we have this message from Conservative MPP Health Critic Elizabeth Witmer - Smitherman Admits Liberals Have No Plan for Health Care.

And lo and behold, the Health Minister actually does admit that his attention was elsewhere:

…“The McGuinty government has broken its own promise to produce a plan to address the gaps in Ontario’s health system,” said Witmer. “Whether it’s improving access to care, modernizing health infrastructure, shortening wait times or promoting good health, Ontario requires a long term vision. A vision the McGuinty Liberals have failed to produce.”

When confronted by PC Health Critic, Elizabeth Witmer, Smitherman said “It’s true to say, and I have to take responsibility that we haven’t hit our marks on this.” The Minister went on to suggest that the report would be published sometime in 2008, however Ministry officials refused to specify a specific date this would happen. As well, during the committee proceedings Smitherman suggested the report was held back due to the 2007 election . “I think that the difficulty that we were into, to be direct with you, was that the window last year got too close to the election, ” said Smitherman…

And with Dalton already pondering the next election, Ontario’s health care situation may soon be D.O.A.

Meanwhile, Blue Blogging Soapbox has found an article suggesting that Dalton’s luck may be running out - Clouds for McGuinty (and Company) :

…The Liberal government could face huge public wrath also over its shortcomings in tackling the infection C. difficile, which is believed to have killed at least 260 patients , and possibly many more, in Ontario hospitals since mid-2006.

This compares to 44 killed by the SARS epidemic of 2002-3 , which produced alarms and investigations. The Conservatives have asked for a public enquiry, but the Liberals, who have been slow even collecting information, have refused. ..

So, are you still happy to pay out that Health Tax, my dear Ontario Lemmings?

Still getting value for your money?

PM Stephen Harper has often been vilified by the press for his so-called iron-fisted grasp on his caucus. However, I have discovered evidence that even the genial Dalton McGuinty is not the easiest leader to get along with.

Pity poor Environment Minister John Gerretsen when he had to sweat through a photo op where he heard his boss say something totally not in the plan , and yet he got blasted anyway for not calling him out in public.

Yes, indeed. John Gerretsen was blamed for being - wait for it - unduly deferential! . Next time he’s supposed to contradict McGuinty if the Premier makes a mistake in public. Can you imagine such a scene?

"Well, actually, the Premier just misspoke, er, made a mistake, um I mean, didn’t read the script. O.K. He SCREWED UP, ALRIGHT???" - Nah, I can’t quite see it happening either.

Talk about a no-win situation.

Oh, and did you know that McGuinty’s a loner?

"He is not an easy guy to know," said one minister, stressing McGuinty keeps his own counsel and is not particularly close to anyone in cabinet.

And you thought only Conservative Prime Ministers were like that.

And then this juicy tidbit is disclosed:

Another Liberal points his index finger to his foot and says "pow" as he refers to the current Lord’s Prayer debacle.

"Why are we shooting ourselves in the foot by opening that can of worms?" said the MPP, recalling that the Liberals were re-elected largely thanks to Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory’s unpopular pledge to fund faith-based schools.

Why indeed?

Well, in any case, that particular May 10 Star article led to another story exposed in the Star where apparently McGuinty chewed out the whole caucus:

"We’re Liberals and from time to time we are going to have different opinions, but we’re always going to emerge, once we’ve taken a position, we’re always going to emerge strong and united ."

In a move that even loyalists now concede was ill-advised, McGuinty ordered all staff members to leave the Liberal caucus room on May 13 then criticized MPPs for speaking out of school .

Well, it seems that somebody must have been playing hooky that day, because again we have one tiny, brave voice speaking out against his Government’s decree that sex-change operations will be funded on the taxpayer’s dime , even though so many people are waiting for operations on other vital organs:

"What I need to hear clearly – and I haven’t – is what is the rationale for this?" said Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor, who said he’s been getting a number of calls and emails from constituents. "This one sort of came out of the blue."

Perhaps Kim Craitor should prepare for his after-school detention. Five hundred lines of "I must not cross my leader" should do it.

Constituents’ wishes are irrelevant. McGuinty is king.

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Friday Update : Excellent column by Christina Blizzard - Grits show second-term rot . Kim Craitor may soon be getting some company in that detention room:

…First, there was Premier Dalton McGuinty’s plan to axe the Lord’s Prayer in the legislature.
Several Liberal backbenchers are up in arms, and say this move came out of nowhere.

York West Liberal Mario Sergio feels very personally about this and has been inundated with signatures on petitions in his riding. He’s even been asked to speak about the issue at churches. He claims other Liberals are also opposed to the plan . . .

…"It has caught many Liberals by total surprise, coming from nowhere. I have to tell you I am not in support of changing it, modifying it, whatever," he said.

"We are nibbling at the few things we have left as Ontarians and Canadians here," Sergio said ….

Blizzard then mentions Kim Craitor’s objection to the reversal of the sex-change delisting, and notes:

…What all this represents, of course, is the disconnect between the McGuinty government’s urban caucus with its grass roots support around the province — and a desperate attempt by Liberal MPPs to distance themselves from the central decision-making process.

Smitherman represents Toronto Centre, a riding that is home to a large number of transgendered people. He ignores the fact you can’t get an eye exam without paying, since the Grits delisted that service, along with physiotherapy and chiropractic services in their first budget.

Look, no doubt we’re all moved by the plight of people who think they’re trapped in a body that’s the wrong sex. Frankly, though, the part of their body that needs examination is their head, not their private bits. And you can’t have health policy dictated by what is politically popular in downtown Toronto. Talk about squeaky wheels! …

Oh boy. That last sentence will likely elicit a few letters to the editor from Toronto Centre!

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Steve Janke on more loose Liberal lips - This time at the federal level. But in this case, the leader has no control at all.

Oh, and this is sweet! Via Steve Janke :

…Turner says the Liberals, being in opposition for the past two years, have forgotten the need for iron discipline within caucus, something Conservatives, with their considerable experience on the wrong side of the Commons, are now showing themselves to be extremely good at .

-Just a bit ironic, don’t you think?

A letter-writer in today’s National Post has the solution. This one’s a hoot!

I am so happy that Dalton McGuinty and George Smitherman have found a way to spend my Ontario Health Tax. I was always ticked off having to pay for my PSA test out of my own pocket, but after this announcement, I am now seriously considering the sex-change option.

Maybe this is Dalton’s solution for having changed Ontario from a "have" province to a "have-not" province. These guys are so special. They can have it both ways. Now so can I .

Warren (Wendy) Brown, Long Sault, Ont.

Absolutely brilliant!

Other good letters here and here .

As I said yesterday , the amount of money may not be huge, but the optics are terrible. Also, the number of applicants for this type of operation may increase dramatically, now that it is covered by OHIP.

And since the Lemmings of Ontario have seen fit to reward this Liberal Government with a majority, I see no hope on the immediate horizon for any common sense to prevail.

Today’s Globe reiterates what I’ve been hearing from many sources lately - our public health care system is in big trouble (Frustration brews among family doctors). H/T National Newswatch.

Yet the socialists refuse to even consider the possibility of a system that somehow integrates positive aspects of the private sector, such as more competition and innovation.

Where are we headed? Self-care, as suggested by an Ontario doctor who commented here recently? (Related post here with great comments addressing the Maclean’s article referring to the ‘feminization’ of medicine.)

Dr. Fullerton makes the following observation in the comments section of her own blog:

No system is completely transferable to Canada but we could take what has worked. I think that privatization in Sweden probably did not go far enough…ie the ineffective or inefficient providers were not weeded out since most is government funded.

This has become a sacred cow issue, much like abortion or Faith-based education funding. Mention it and you are political dead meat.

And so we continue to stick our collective heads in the sand.

According to the Globe report, the doctor’s groups are asking for the following:

Continue to address the education, training, recruitment and retention of physicians to ensure a sustainable work force that is ready to meet the changing health needs of Canadians;

Implement a co-ordinated, Canada-wide approach to educating, training, recruiting and retaining enough physicians to meet the needs of an aging population.

Fair enough. But where’s the money going to come from?

Time to start thinking outside of the box - rather than end up in one.

When cornered, attack the messenger.

(That is, of course, if throwing money at the problem doesn’t work.)

A footnote to yesterday’s candid discussion of the abysmal state of health care in Ontario today - Today’s Star quotes Health Minister George Smitherman dismissing the Ontario Health Coalition as ‘irrelevant’.

And what shall we call George?

The first word that springs to mind for me is arrogant. Of course he can afford to be, with a comfortable majority. No worries.

Thanks, Lemmingland.

BTW, this statement has got to be the most ironic I’ve ever heard:

“They have a lot of rhetoric. … At a certain point of time people have to start to question their motives.”

Maybe you should look in the mirror, George.

The OHC may not have all the answers, but we need to tackle our health care problem with an open mind, and be willing to consider various points of view - especially the taxpayer’s and the end-user’s.

OHC media event at 10 this morning.

Dr. Merrilee Fullerton has left a rather prophetic and disconcerting comment on my previous post - Maybe Hospitals should be banned in Ontario:

The problems at Brampton Civic are simply a sign of what happens when you build new facilities without the proper staffing to staff them (there is a shortage of physicians despite what some “experts” have fed the politicians for the past decade).

I’ve worked in Ontario health care for the past 20 years and would say that we have only another 5 years before the system collapses despite huge amounts of money poured on by the Liberals.

Build as many hospitals as you want….but if you don’t have the health care workforce to support them then you will be out of luck for your care.

The National Health Service in Britain is looking toward “self-care” whereby patients essentially look after themselves for their chronic diseases….which will swamp us in the next decade.

The problem is that in an attempt to save a system that won’t work with the pending onslaught of chronic disease and elderly and new treatments, the solution the NHS comes up with is that patients must look after themselves! ….save a system which doesn’t give the patient medical access! What kind of system is this?

And we know Ontario copies what the NHS does quite routinely so this is what we have to look forward to…save the current system at any cost while patients are left to fend for themselves without recourse in their own province.

Strange. Very strange.

What good is a universal, accessible, portable, comprehensive system when as a patient you are left to provide “self-care”?

We pay taxes all our lives in good faith and at the end of our lives will be told: Sorry, you will have to provide “self-care”.

As the NHS goes, so goes Ontario.

Dr. Fullerton’s blog can be found here.

Wake up, Ontario!!! Five years. Can we afford to wait until the next election?

We’re talking about your health, your hospitals, your life.

And the lives of your family members.

Is there anything else more important?

Warning: Going to a hospital in Ontario could be hazardous to your health.

Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin is the only provincial watchdog in Canada who doesn’t have the mandate to oversee hospitals, his office said yesterday. He can therefore only investigate complaints when the government takes direct control of an institution, as it did with Brampton Civic.

Or at least bring a bodyguard - “What happened is a nightmare.”)

(Caution - Don’t read the Globe report while eating.)

…Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have laws making it mandatory for hospitals to report suspicions of abuse, neglect or violence done to patients. Not so in Ontario, where legislators have tried to require such reports by hospitals, only to see their efforts die on the order paper…

The murder of Hunter Brown and subsequent arrest of Trevor Lapierre underscores the desperate need for more mental health funding.

In today’s Record (Families of people with mental illness often have little influence over care), Christiane Sadeler, executive Director of the Community Safety & Crime Prevention Council states:

…it’s clear that Lapierre is “a very troubled young man. I must admit I was a little puzzled to see he was discharged,” she said.

She said when mental health legislation was changed, community supports were to be put in place. “I would claim there is not nearly enough,” she said.

Of course, we all know by now that most of our so-called health tax goes to general revenues.

Sadeler also critiques our legal system as it pertains to the mentally ill:

“Families are in a difficult position because of the current mental health legislation,” she said. “They can encourage and support, but they have no capacity to have someone detained.”

She said the original intent of changes made more than a decade ago to the Mental Health Act was “to ensure over-containment of people with mental health issues doesn’t happen.

“Maybe the legislation, in some cases goes, beyond what was originally intended.”

Where is Dalton McGuinty’s voice in all this?

The complex protocol required for admission to an acute psychiatric unit is also detailed in the article. An accompanying piece shows how much police time goes into dealing with the mentally ill.

Clearly, something needs to be done to improve the system in terms of funding for beds and community support, as well as possibly another look into revamping the Ontario Mental Health Act to facilitate the process for getting help for people who are so troubled and irrational that they don’t realize how badly they need mental health care.