Cussin’ George Smitherman

Our beleaguered Minister of Health has been at it again, using words normally only heard in our public school playgrounds. This time it was the Nurses’ Association that got his dander up, insisting that he bargain with them so they would not have to talk to their employer, the hospitals. It seems odd that the Nurses would want to sit in a bargaining session with a man whose mouth needs a frequent application of Grandma’s Lye Soap, but I suppose they get tired of hearing that the hospitals have no money to spend on nurses’ wages.

Perhaps George has a valid point when he says he is just as tired of the hospitals and their chant of more money, more money. On the one side, they badger him about wait times, on the other, for more money to fix the system and reduce wait times. Some wait times have come down, and it turns out that in some instances, it was a matter of better management and proper scheduling of the operating theatres and recovery system. Maybe it is time to look at how well our hospital administrators are performing if they have problems scheduling staff and rooms.

The problems with C difficile in Sault Ste Marie will fuel both sides of the argument, with Smitherman saying the hospitals are not keeping themselves clean and the hospitals replying that they have no money for cleanliness. Hospitals, by their very nature, are places of bad things that you might catch from other sick people, since that is where sick people tend to gather. In fact, it is no wonder that some people are turning to alternate health and lifestyle choices to avoid hospitals. However, is more money the answer to all our health problems?

As difficult as it may be for some people to listen to Mike Harris and Preston Manning, their recent report under the auspices of the Fraser Institute, is getting some serious attention by both government and big business. Put aside their conservative notions, and the facts they present do seem to indicate that Canada has a productivity problem. We may be working as many hours per week as other countries that are at the forefront of our western civilization, but we are not producing as much in those hours. For too many years, we have relied on the low value of our dollar to sell our goods, but now that the dollar is approaching its true value, we need to find ways to produce quality goods more efficiently. Harris and Manning say we need more investment in education, research and technology.

Maybe our health industry needs to hear their message. As much as we seem to fear competition in our health sector, we must realize that dumping more and more money into a bottomless pit is not the only answer. Perhaps if our hospitals had a little competition they might find it to their advantage to attract ‘customers’ with a clean, safe and effective health care experience. If it takes a few cuss words to wake people up, George might just be the man to do it.

Cussin’ George (not our Mayor Vic, as the mole in Lawlor’s campaign office stated) might have reason to blow off a few more expletives when we end up in local court over the same issue that he has been fighting – Health officials wanting more and more money and government crying ‘poor me’. The issue with Health Units and hospitals is health care, not running their operation like a business. The issue with governance is providing a safe, secure climate for their citizens to grow, prosper and enjoy life, not running government like a business. The issue with businesses in Canada ought to be to grow and prosper, providing their employees with a lifestyle befitting our country, not to rest on their laurels and complain to the government when sales fall off.

Maybe it is time for us all to become a little more productive, to seek out better ways to provide our services or products and stop complaining to government. For we are the government. Maybe it is time to get off our comfortable arses and do something. And if that is not strong enough language to get us moving, perhaps George will express it better.