News reporter Don Braid took his wife to the emergency room in Calgary, Canada.
It was bloody AWFUL.
Click through to read the horror story – Welcome to Hospital Hell: 14 hours in the emergency ward
Dr. Brian Mason’s comments:
Ten days ago, Don Braid, local columnist for The Calgary Herald, blogged about the abysmal care that his wife received at the emergency.
It’s something we all know about, it’s something we all wring our hands about, and it was nice to see it written about. Sparked a bit of an outroar, but nothing will happen.
Our politician’s pretend all is good, except that we need to cut back on health care. What a difference from the States. We just returned from San Francisco, where we observed bus ads for local emergency departments that guaranteed patients would be seen within a half hour after arrival. It was shocking not just to compare that half hour guarantee with Don Braid’s wife’s nine hours of intense pain before seeing a doctor but even more basically to imagine a health care system where you are seen as an opportunity (to make money, to be sure) instead of a burden.
So we are lied to already, and now we are lied to again, this time with English beaches standing in for Alberta beaches. I want to be here when Albertans get sick of the lies.
Certainly private Health Care is the only model that stands a chance, long term. But it isn’t working yet in the USA. Once Obama gets through with reforms it will be further muddled.
The Canadian model is too expensive as well as inefficient and impersonal.
My advice … DON’T GET SICK. In either the USA or Canada.
For the record, when I dislocated my finger last Fall, my emergency care in Calgary was very good.
Rick McCharles 
As a permanent resident of the USA and a Canadian citizen, I have lived both systems. Both are terribly flawed.
In the USA – I received outstanding care. No waiting, top notch service. I probably have my son today because of the care I received. In Canada, my problem would have never been detected nor would I have been tested for that matter and thus I would never have carried him to term. That said, the red tape of the insurance paperwork is daunting. The administrative costs of this paperwork are staggering. And the constant need to correct mistakes and follow-up on misfiled bills presents the need for constant attention and review. And if you don’t have good insurance, you are in deep trouble.
On the other side, the Canadian system presents it’s own set of problems. Wait times for MRI and other diagnostic tests are ridiculous. Elective surgeries can take years to schedule and complete. And the red tape involved with coming back here is shocking. I recently needed an urgent ultrasound and it was scheduled for 2 weeks away. It took my doctor to get upset and call the hospital directly to get me in that day – which was two days after my original appointment.
For me, I think a two tiered system is the only way to go.
Broken is an understatement on the current state of both the US and Canadian systems.