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Canada's stretched hospitals brace for impact
Reuters ^ | March 20, 2020 4:09 PM | Allison Martel, Moira Warburton

Posted on 03/20/2020 3:50:53 PM PDT by Olog-hai

Canada’s health system is preparing for an influx of coronavirus patients in the midst of a long-running bed shortage, calling doctors out of retirement and ramping down any treatment that can wait.

A shortage of beds during periods of peak demand, like the flu season, is a longstanding problem in the publicly funded system. While health spending has risen gradually in recent years, beds have not kept pace with population growth.

“You’ve got people in broom closets and auditoriums and conference rooms across the country,” said Michael Gardam, chief of staff at one Ontario’s newest hospitals, the 656-bed Humber River Hospital.

Canada has 925 cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, and 12 deaths. …

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Local News
KEYWORDS: canada; china; coronavirus; covid19; kungflu; moogoogaipandemic; redchina; wuhanvirus
Broom closets?
1 posted on 03/20/2020 3:50:53 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
Canada’s health system is preparing for an influx of coronavirus patients in the midst of a long-running bed shortage, calling doctors out of retirement and ramping down any treatment that can wait. A shortage of beds during periods of peak demand, like the flu season, is a longstanding problem in the publicly funded system.

Paging Michael Moore.

2 posted on 03/20/2020 3:52:25 PM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: Olog-hai

I saw something about people having to wait six months for a doctor’s appointment in Nova Scotia.


3 posted on 03/20/2020 3:53:32 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: Olog-hai

Canada’s healthcare system has been crappy for years...just ask the older people who live there....young people/children it’s ok...long waiting times for surgeries, equipment they do not have (remember the actress who died for lack of some kind of scanner?)


4 posted on 03/20/2020 3:53:54 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Trump is as good a dictator as he is a racist.....)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

“”in the midst of a long-running bed shortage, calling doctors out of retirement””

Asking them to bring a bed with them?


5 posted on 03/20/2020 4:06:54 PM PDT by Thank You Rush
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according to the media...this is only happening here because of Trump....


6 posted on 03/20/2020 4:10:08 PM PDT by basalt
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To: kaehurowing
A friend of my parents lived in Toronto.

Was in a wheelchair and needed 2 hip replacements.

He would have had to wait 18 mos for the first and then another 18 for the second.

He drove across the border and had both done in a week.

Of course he had to pay out of pocket.

7 posted on 03/20/2020 4:15:12 PM PDT by Eagles6
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To: Olog-hai

Is it just me or has the media been suspiciously silent on the fact that the hardest hit countries are those with socialized medicine. Is that fact evident to anyone else?

I’ll say this, if America comes out of this relatively unscathed, I think it’ll be a use case for our health care system’s resilience. I’m tired of being lambasted for not having socialized medicine. We don’t turn people away for care. That NEVER happens. I worked in healthcare environments for most of my career, and I’ve never heard of a patient turned away.

Yes, something needs to be done with the insurance industry and the cost of care, but socializing the healthcare system in America is not the answer.


8 posted on 03/20/2020 4:29:21 PM PDT by rarestia (Repeal the 17th Amendment and ratify Article the First to give the power back to the people!)
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To: Olog-hai

I once heard someone praising Canada’s system over ours because theirs was more efficient. He said that we had a much lower occupancy rate in our hospitals, so we were wasting space. He was trying to make a lack of space available for emergencies into a virtue of the system.


9 posted on 03/20/2020 4:29:54 PM PDT by djpg
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To: Olog-hai

Have Bernie go up and straighten things out.


10 posted on 03/20/2020 4:32:22 PM PDT by jetson
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To: Olog-hai

With all of those Curling Brooms to store, Canadian Broom Closets are more room sized.


11 posted on 03/20/2020 5:19:20 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Olog-hai

The United States has over 32 critical care beds for every 100,000

Canada have around 9.5 beds for every 100,000

Italy has around 11.5 beds for every 100,000.


12 posted on 03/20/2020 5:24:53 PM PDT by PanzerKardinal (Some things are so idiotic only an intellectual would believe it.)
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To: Olog-hai

First Italy and now Canada.

Isn’t government sponsored health care grand?!?


13 posted on 03/20/2020 5:39:29 PM PDT by airborne (I don't always scream at the TV but when I do it's hockey season!)
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To: Olog-hai

“A shortage of beds during periods of peak demand, like the flu season, is a longstanding problem in the publicly funded system.”

Oh, Canaduh...so progressive, so duh. Bye, Grandma :(


14 posted on 03/20/2020 5:55:53 PM PDT by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and so few by deceit. Noel Coward)
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