We all hear people complain that the waiting list in the hospitals is too long, no matter where you live. Many people say that they cannot get a family doctor. Yes, there is a lineup at the out-person and emergency areas of our hospitals. Sometimes we must look back and compare our health care today to what our pioneers had, or the services provided in the great country just south of us. Then take a look at services that are provided in Canada today.
Medicare 200 years ago consisted of what the neighbour’s wife learned by having her own baby or if sickness came to your door, sometimes some of our First Nation people saved your life with what early medicine that they made from roots, tree bark, or some other recipe that they had learned from their ancestors. The nearest early doctor was 50 to 100 miles away on horseback or on foot. When my uncle split his foot with an axe while working in the bush, the closest doctor was 25 miles away and by the time his dad and my dad (his brother) got him out of the bush, his boot was full of blood. As the story goes, their neighbour charmed the blood to stop the bleeding and my uncle was taken by horse and sleigh another 20 miles to the nearest doctor who sewed up the foot and bandaged him for the long trip back home.
When you walk through graveyards, you will notice that 80 years ago many young wives died during the birth of their first baby. The mother and baby were buried together in the same grave. Some people died with a heart attack, some with “consumption” (tuberculosis) or maybe from old age at 60 years. There were no retirement homes. Grandparents lived with the next generation and helped raise the grandchildren, which was good for all concerned. There were no dentists. Some neighbours knew how to pull teeth. Some neighbors could set a broken leg on a sheep, cow, or a person. The antibiotic for most operations was a stiff drink of whisky followed by a splash of the same on the wound. Many women who could knit socks could also sew up a very nasty gash.
Before Dr. Wilbert Keon developed open heart surgery, the use of stints to keep arteries from collapsing, and early heart transplants, many people died prematurely. When the pain got too bad with a worn-out hip or knee, you rubbed it with horse liniment.
Today, we all know someone with a new artificial hip or knee, or who has had an operation for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to restore accuracy of movement in a hand or wrist. Many of our hospitals can now treat cancer patients, and some cancers have been eliminated.
But many hospitals are now short on nurses and doctors. This makes it tougher to offer all services at every hospital. Rural areas are pressed to compete with cities for skilled doctors and nurses. Areas with medical centres with several doctors can offer better working hours than the single doctor practice that we were accustomed to in years gone by. Our area was extremely lucky to have dedicated doctors work to start the Society of Rural Physicians in Canada that works continuously to ensure help and a little incentive to keep a team of competent doctors in rural areas.
In Ontario, Renfrew County has recently made much better use of their paramedics by encouraging them to become better trained to triage many of their calls to get the patients treated without taking them to hospital and clogging up the emergency rooms. This initiative has now been implemented in many other areas of Ontario. In many other areas of the world, universal health care like we are used to in Canada is not in place. Serious health problems that are mentioned above are not covered even if you buy private health insurance. In those situations, the majority of people cannot afford lengthy hospital stays, even if they mortgage their home or farm.
A friend of mine that farmed just south of Ottawa sold his farm and moved to New York state. He acquired good help because he provided purchased health care for the family that worked on his farm. He said that the health care package cost him $20,000 per year, and not included was childbirth because the insurance company claimed that childbirth was a natural occurrence, not an accident, or a disease. Next time you are in a hospital for an extended time, check how much the bill would be if you didn’t have Medicare.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
