I am making a conscious effort to buy Canadian products. I have not previously paid enough attention to be honest.

Obviously not possible for everything but I think it’s important we are all more aware of how we spend our money.

Are others doing the same?

Another one today reads “the waiting time is prohibitive locally and I’ve recommended minimally invasive lumbar decompression with an estimated cost of $12,000 USD or $30,000 USD if fusion is required”

Do you wait two years or do you pay the money and get back some quality of life?

I am getting more and more reports back on patients with recommendations to go to Washington State for care.

I’m up in Canada and we got inundated with US politics. Your show is the only one I watch now. Sans British accent! Honestly you are very good at what you do.

Well said Ben. Totally agree with you!

Yep

Some things Canada Post does need to be deemed an essential service. Patients in small towns in the north rely on the mail to get their medications. Many small communities do not have pharmacies or other private delivery services.

If you figure out how to achieve this please let me know.

The ministry of health needs to be aware patient care is being impacted by these delays. The new minister of health needs to phone up those in charge who we are paying a tone of tax dollars to and demand some answers.

Now our main lab provider in Canada Lifelabs has been bought out by a large American company Quest diagnostics. It might be listed on the NYSE (DGX) but that’s not helping patients with access.

Patients reporting that they can’t get in for basic bloodwork because there are no appointments and drop in can be many hours of waiting. Delays in labs is not safe when I need to see the effects of a med or response to therapy. Some are being given dates 4 plus weeks out.

It’s not sustainable for patients or me. We need to do a way better job of health human resource planning. Way better.

Yukon needs 3 if not 4 full time internal medicine specialists based on population size. They have me 30 ish days a year.

Patients now wait until January to get a diagnosis, start treatment, or find out they have a cancer. That’s already after waiting many months to get in.

I’ve gone to Whitehorse every 6 weeks for the last 20 years. I was supposed to be getting on a plane today but had to cancel for family reasons. I have never had to cancel before.

We need to build in more redundancy in our health care system.

Iron deficiency is common. It really impacts quality of life. Fatigue. Hair loss. Restless legs. Reduced cognition. Low mood. Decreased endurance.

It’s a simple blood test. I see so many patients who after we boost it to normal wish they’d done it years before.

Get it checked. You are worth it.

I truly believe we can all make the world a better place. My goal is to improve our health care system in Canada. I know I rub some the wrong way 🤪

Hopefully those of you who left X for here will find me and me you. Migrating to this place.