Why should people have too wait for needed services? Good for them in finding a results oriented alternative. There are a 1000 less people waiting in line for service. We need more service ,not less service and the Montreal clinic and doctor is providing it. We need more of these options to break the dismal service Que. Q-jumpers
Mon, February 14, 2005
Private surgeries booming
By CP
MONTREAL -- Nearly 1,000 people from across Canada have paid up to $12,000 out of pocket recently for hip and knee surgery at a private orthopedic hospital in the city, the Montreal Gazette reported yesterday. Fed up with having to wait as long as a year in the public system, patients have turned to the Duval Orthopedic Clinic in the city's north end, which boasts a 2 1/2 -week waiting list.
Dr. Nicolas Duval opted out of the public system in 2002 and bills patients directly for services normally covered under medicare, raising questions about the clinic's legality.
He maintains his practice is legal because the operating room and nearby convalescent home received their operating permits before the Canada Health Act was adopted in 1984.
FRUSTRATED
Frustrated with a lack of operating-room time at his east-end public hospital, Duval bought a nursing home in February 2003.
Duval performs more than 500 hip and knee replacements a year in a private cosmetic-surgery facility.
In addition to his orthopedic patients, Duval will admit patients recently released from public hospitals after surgery who want to spend more time in a supervised setting at a cost of $200 per night.
"That's the reality of the public system -- the hospitals are under pressure to discharge patients right away," Duval said.
The Gazette reported that Montreal has become the private health-care capital of Canada, offering a wide range of diagnostic, surgical and therapeutic services to patients willing to pay out of pocket.
Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Private surgeries booming: "Mon, February 14, 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment