Yes it is unfortunate that Canada doesn't have a choice regarding SARS, and we in the US should do what we can to help our neighbor.
Nevertheless, if Canada had a free-market alternative to government controlled healthcare, the problem of closing off hospitals might not be so severe.
I agree with paragraph 1 and thank you kindly for paragraph 2.
You are incorrect with paragraph 3. Whether the hospital was a for profit hospital or a not for profit hospital it wouldn't have mattered - we had to stop the outbreak especially at Scarborough General.
Interestingly, the Province has just allowed new "private" MRIs to be going in at a number of locations in Ontario. This is in conjunction with the many "private firms" that offer x-rays and other imaging.
This private part in Ontario's health care is something that few talk about up here. If you look very closely at the health care system you will find that a lot of it is private.
What is public of course is the "insurance" system. And of course the insurance lobby wants to get into the action.
Just to let you know the biggest problem up here with the system has been the lack of funding over the years. Canada and a number of its provinces, including Ontario decided to tackle its major deficit problems in the 1990s. In Ontario and at the federal level, the financial mess was fixed. Now a lot of money is being invested into the system again. Hell even the doctors, who usually set up themselves as businesses in this Province are getting decent wages again. Interestingly enough, in Ontario, the Province pays for the doctors malipractice insurance, something that USA doctors have major problems with.
Is it what I would like to see? I'm not sure. I, myself, have always had very good care but I'm always kinda partial to a less government role.
hawk