Knee and Hip replacment waiting a farce!

I will comment on an excellent article in the Edmonton Journal today’s date. Mr. Kevin Taft has chosen to be kind and gentle when dealing with Mr. Klein and company. He explains the hip and knee replacement program trials show’s there can be an advantage of working with the private sector.

What he didn’t say was the people selected for the trials were just that, selected. Those who got into the program were certain to be out of hospital in 2 days or so. If there were any of the normal complications apparent that would have people staying in hospital for a week or two they were found to be “not suitable” for the test criteria.

Because of this, the waiting list planned and managed by Iris Evans, Health Minster was allowed to get long enough to sort out easy fixes. This wasn’t about helping people or saving money it was about political grand standing.

The Private Hip and Knee replacement hospital used to be a public institution. It was given to the “private” group including our famous Mr. Dinning for 1/10th its value. Then, after this “group” had taken possession another six millions of dollars of improvements were put into the hospital by our Government.

This is undoubtably the shape of the future under Conservatives! Beware of new hospitals, they won't belong to the taxpayer long!

Here again, create the problem by short funding and a blind eye to the suffering it causes and blame it all onto a public system. Then, privatize it to the tune of a marching band.

By my estimates without putting pen to paper, these hip replacements were the most expensive on the planet and showed more than any, how privatization is about giving taxpayer equities to a closed group of friends to exploit, with the help of this Government.

Mr. Taft is a lot kinder than I.

If Mr. Dinning has any coments he wants plublished he can drop me a line.

cyberclark@shaw.ca