I read with interest about the mentally
disabled Elliot Lake man who has to wait several months for an
operation to correct his stomach condition.
Apparently he suffers severe and painful dry
heaves.
My heart goes out to this man, and to many
others who must endure long wait periods for surgeries in this
city. You can bet your bottom dollar that if Vickie Kaminski
had this man's condition, she would be operated on "toot sweet"
as we jokingly say. This speaks volumes about our health care
system.
Randall Paquette
Sudbury
If Sudbury Regional Hospital has a budgetary
cap on performing laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery, hip
replacements, cataract surgery and the like, that's fine, let
them live with their cap.
But for the unnamed Elliot Lake man and
anyone else who has to wait 14 months in agony on some
hospital's list, my best advice is to shop around.
More people in Northern Ontario have to start
demanding - demanding - that their physicians and health-care
workers get off the stick and make alternative arrangements in
London or Toronto to get patients the attention they deserve,
and delivered faster.
This so-called commitment from Queen's Park
to reduce surgical waiting times is total hogwash. Northern and
rural hospitals seem more content to build up their waiting
lists in the hopes to land a bushelful of cash in the next
fiscal year. If they weren't, they would be scheduling patients
to be rotated out to other health care centres.
Remember, it's better to run your life on
your timetable, rather than someone else's.
Ian Ross
Sudbury