Thank you to my fellow committee members for organizing this event today. A few months ago I got together with a group of other concerned west prince citizens to try and find a solution to our ER closurers at western hospital. Because all of us came from different political backgrounds we agreed to be nonpartisan however, we knew that we would have to be political. Health care in our province is run by the government but despite our best efforts those in charge of our health care would not meet with us privately, so we are here today to publicly tell those in charge of our healthcare enough is enough! Our current system is broken and governments plan for better access, better care is like giving a Tylenol for a brain tumour, it might lessen the pain a bit for a brief time. But it doesn't solve the real problem.
In a statement made in January the health minister said health care was advancing. The definition of the word advance is move forward or progress. Thousands of islanders with out family doctors is not progress. A hospital that 15 years ago could deliver babies but now has a sign on the door that says in case of a medical emergency call 911 is not progress. Goings from two 24/7 doctor staffed ER's to one staffed with to a nurse and a paramedic at night is not progress. Depending on private fee for service companies as critical parts of our healthcare system is not progress. Shuffling our seniors out of their home communities and away from their families and supporters is not progress.
Another catch phrase that the health minister has recently been using is, " our health care is evolving". To evolve means to gradually change to a more highly developed form. I would argue that in fact our health care is De-volving. Tommy Douglas fought for a Medicare system in which everyone was treated equally regardless of their ability to pay, regardless of where they lived. We had that once, but not any more. We are devolving back into a two tiered system of healthcare, one for the rich and one for the poor.
Over these last few weeks of public meetings we have heard lots of blaming of our health care woes on escalating costs, of not enough money to go around. However, Canada’s leading health care economist, Robert Evans, has said that the wolf at the door of the Canadian medicare system is not an economic wolf but rather “a political wolf dressed in phony economic clothing to deceive the sheep.” Well guess what, we arent sheep! And we refuse to put our heads down and say, "baa, baa". We are here today because we believe it is time for a fundamental change in the system of healthcare delivery in PEI! And the governments plan for better access, better care isn't it!
Over the last 9 months various groups from across PEI have been working independently, investigating the intricacies of our health care system. Recently these groups came together to form the Islandwide Healthcare Access group. It is astounding that dedicated volunteers have a better knowledge of our healthcare system than the people who are employed to run it. Together we have discovered inexcusable levels of bureaucracy, and mazes of finger pointing. It is the seniors fault, they are aging faster than we expected, it is the doctors fault they don't want to work over time, they don't like rural areas, it is the federal governments fault, they don't give use enough healthcare transfers. But never once have I heard any healthcare leader stand up and say, "we've made mistakes, we didn't plan well".
We have come to the conclusion that health care for islanders is too important to be left up to government officials who are only concerned with they're own 4 year term. Healthcare is too important to be run with out consultation from front line healthcare proffesioanls..We need a non partisan elected health board which has equal representation from all counties. Equal representation from both urban and rural area. This health board should be made up of health care professionals like nurses, doctors, paramedics and community members ...And it MUST operate independently from government! No more should our health care be a toy for politicians to play with, robbing one community to gain votes in another, pitting town against town! Making promises to win an election and then breaking them as soon as they are in office. Health care needs to be delivered based upon best practice and quality care for all islanders!
We the people demand the government scrap its better access, better care plan because clearly it will provide worse access and worse care. We demand fundamental change in how healthcare is run on PEI, not just window dressing! Stand up for the people you serve Mr Premier and revolutionize healthcare on PEI for the better. Listen to the people who elected you. Listen to the people who provide healthcare on the front lines. Bring in an independent health board! Let that be your legacy.
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