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(Kelowna-Mission B.C. Liberal) MLA Renee Merrifield recently asked her constituents for feedback on the latest round of health care funding (in her Castanet column). Here is my response.
The issue with health care goes much deeper than government throwing money at it. What we have is an “injury and illness repair” system that is addicted to money, and like any addict, it will always come back for the next hit to feed its habit. There will never be enough.
This is a self-perpetuating system because there are so many interests involved in seeing it continue—high-paying careers for medical professionals and administrators, lucrative supply contracts for medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies, great photo ops for politicians as they are seen doing something (such as) opening yet another expensive “injury and illness repair” facility.
Where is the incentive to kill the goose that lays the golden egg? Just inject the next cash fix.
The responsibility for changing the system lies with us. As long as we continue to make endemic unhealthy choices, we will continue to feed the addict.
Lifestyle choices of poor diet, lack of exercise and addictive behaviours place a huge burden on the (health-care) system.
Excessive cardiac and circulatory issues, joint replacements, digestive tract problems, respiratory issues, certain cancers, and mental health/addiction problems typically have their roots in our personal choices. These are most effectively dealt with at the front line preventive stage, based on family practices and support systems that require us individually and collectively to take responsibility for our own wellness, not just whine that the government must do something.
It’s nice to point fingers at your political rivals but this is a collective failure at the political, health-care system and individual level.
Does (Merrifield’s) party have the political courage to lead the deep systemic changes that are necessary to replace our unsustainable “injury and illness repair” system with one that is truly focused on individual and community wellness?
David Jenkins
