Medical Care (home, transfer, versus)

[Bohdi1]

Unlike some of the people I have talked to about moving to Canada, I do not have a problem with government run or "socialized" medical plans. The question I do have is the quality of care. A cold is a cold and even so is the flu to a degree and there are things I can do to treat them myself but what level of care would we get if my son broke his arm.( I chose the boy simply because he is rowdier than my girls.) Some of the anti-everything people that I have talked with paint a picture of not being able to get the arm set for two+ weeks. I just can't see that happening at any hospital. I do believe there would be a time distinction between getting cancer treatment versus plastic surgery, for the surgery is not necessary,typically. Looking for input from those in the know. Thanks.

[Cornerguy1]

Canadian hospitals tend to work on a triage-based system: those in the greatest need go to the front of the line.

So if you're sitting in the local ER with cut finger and an ambulance rolls in with someone presenting with a heart attack, you're going to take a back seat while the ER folks try and save a life.

There are times, especially when family doctors close their offices for traditional holidays, when ERs tend to become over-crowded with non-emergency patients.

Canadian hospitals tend to not have the same level of equipment like MRIs as their US counterparts, but they seem to stumble through.

It's been my experience that people with truly serious problems generally get prompt and proficient service.

As an example, a customer of mine recently suffered a serious heart attack in the middle of the night. He was rushed to the local rural hospital and diagnosed. Within 45 minutes he was again placed in an ambulance and taken on a high-speed run to a regional heart center where he underwent a quadruple bypass at 3 am. The surgeon told the customer's wife that her husband would not have survived another 24 hours. Today, he has been transferred back to the hospital closest to his home and is recovering well.

Availability of health care varies from province to province, and from urban areas to rural areas.

Could it be better? Sure.

Do Canadian doctors occasionally screw up and misdiagnose? Absolutely.

Overall, though, the system does a pretty good job of ensuring that everyone has access to necessary services.

[Fred Derf]

Originally Posted by Bohdi1

Unlike some of the people I have talked to about moving to Canada, I do not have a problem with government run or "socialized" medical plans. The question I do have is the quality of care. A cold is a cold and even so is the flu to a degree and there are things I can do to treat them myself but what level of care would we get if my son broke his arm.( I chose the boy simply because he is rowdier than my girls.) Some of the anti-everything people that I have talked with paint a picture of not being able to get the arm set for two+ weeks. I just can't see that happening at any hospital. I do believe there would be a time distinction between getting cancer treatment versus plastic surgery, for the surgery is not necessary,typically. Looking for input from those in the know. Thanks.

If you go to the E.R. with a cold or a flu then you may wait 5+ hours. Broken bones on a child will be set relatively quickly (probably within an hour). As already mentioned, the injury will be triaged and dealt with in order of priority so it doesn't matter who got there first. If there is a 14 car pileup on the 401 then you will have to wait longer than normal.

[wheelingman]

It is the exact same thing in the US.