Who am I?
My name is John Maddigan, and like many Canadians, I don’t have a family doctor, haven’t had one for almost two years and like many Canadians I’m frustrated. So, I decided to investigate the Canadian Health Care System to figure out what was going on. I found lots of information from many sources, but no one put it all together to answer my two burning questions. Why is Canada’s health care system broken and what can be done to fix it? I couldn’t find the answer, so I decided to start this blog to find out and let the rest of Canada know what I find. Initially, I wanted to rant and rave but thought that would not be very helpful.
I left Canada in 1992 to pursue an MBA in the United States and ended out staying until 2021. Along the way my wife and I owned and operated 10 veterinary hospitals in Oregon, learned lots about how to think differently, take risks and run large (17 veterinarian-large) veterinary hospitals that on some days performed 30 surgeries and saw up to 200 patients. I was also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for 10 years, taught a 4th-year elective course to veterinary students and sat on various not-for-profit boards.
Why I started this blog
I live in the East Kootenay region of BC and like many Canadians I don’t have a family doctor and after almost two years of waiting didn’t seem to be getting much closer to getting one. So, I decided to figure out why. When I left Canada in 1992, I had a family doctor and so did most people I knew, things seemed to be okay with Canada’s healthcare system back then, but in the ensuing 29 years the train seemed to have jumped the track.
Why are we different?
Before I thought about writing a blog, I looked at hundreds of studies and papers about Canada’s, and other countries, healthcare systems and lots of websites and podcasts. Many examined new treatments, innovations, and developments in medicine but none of those sites, blogs or podcasts focused on making Canada’s healthcare system better. I know why, it’s tough and no one wants to get it wrong, especially someone that is part of the healthcare system. No one in the industry wants to make bold changes and risk their good reputation if things don’t work out. Making difficult changes takes courage and the risk to one’s reputation is too high. Lucky for me I’m not part of Canada’s health care system, which makes it much easier for me to make bold suggestions and demand radical changes. The other advantage I have is an expert, an “insider”, a practicing doctor that can reign in my most audacious thoughts and make them “workable” to those inside the health care community. We’re also different because we want to hear both from ordinary Canadians and healthcare professionals so we can truly make suggestions that will make Canada’s healthcare system better, now, not ten years from now. We’re also different because I, John, am an outsider to the health care system but have extensive experience with the provision of health care, albeit for your family pet.
Why Canadian’s should read our blog
First and foremost, we truly want to make Canada’s healthcare system better for all Canadians, we aren’t beholden to any industry influences, and I still need a family doctor.
We also won’t ask for your email address, won’t ask for donations or try to sell you stuff, or try to send you newsletters but we will ask for your input, comments, stories, and suggestions, especially if you are a healthcare professional. We want to improve Canada’s healthcare system and we can with your help because all of us are smarter than anyone of us.
And finally, if you’re one of ten million Canadians that doesn’t have a family doctor or is experiencing unusually long wait times for elective surgery you’ll want to read this blog to see how to fix both problems.
Topics we’re going to cover
Our focus will be on identifying problems and providing solutions to those problems. These are the topics we’ll cover:
· We’ll start with the shortage of family doctors across Canada, look at what some provinces are doing and make suggestions to eliminate the shortage.
· Then will look at how and when the current shortage originated and why we should have seen this problem coming and make suggestions that could help quickly.
· We’ll move on to the ever-growing costs of proving health care and explain why money alone will not solve the problem.
· We’ll also explain why we can’t just stand by and watch the costs for health care continue to increase without making drastic changes.
· We’ll explain why Canada’s aging population and the explosion of chronic diseases will soon start to have the same impact on our healthcare system as Covid 19.
· Then we’ll look at what we as ordinary Canadians can and must do if our health care system is to survive the next 30 years.
· We’ll also look at the hundreds of studies, reports and pilot projects that have been conducted in Canada and find out what, if anything has been done in response to all of the money spent on those efforts.
Lots to cover, and if it all works out we’ll start a podcast, and invite experts and ordinary Canadians to help us solve Canada’s healthcare crisis, and I know we can do it.
Share of individuals who said select problems were the biggest facing the health care system in Canada in 2022