Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 8, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a13 pm i pin m 2001 t medical brain Drain plan wont keep ads at Home California practice easily wins comparison working conditions by Ihor Kalicinsky health min ister David Chomiak recently announced a Grant program to encourage medical school graduates to stay in although Chomiak is an Earnest hardworking politician who genuinely believes in what he i do not think this recent Effort will have much Here Are my i am a family physician who was born in Winnipeg and who moved to Central California in 1995 after 18 years of medical practice in West i had a very Busy office and i was respected by my but rising expenses and taxes coupled with Low medicare fees became into the average income for a family doctor in the is us after office expenses and before the average american family doctor has a patient volume of visits per compared to an aver age of visits in in Winnipeg i was treating at least 35 patients per Day but could Only afford to pay for one office employ my office in California is i can easily afford to pay for two employees and a Billing service which is unfortunately necessary in order to keep track of the much More complicated american system of fee but my income is much higher even though i Seldom see More than 25 patients per this allows me to spend More time with each and i am not men tally exhausted at the end of the this has resulted in a much improved Quality of life for me and my specialist referrals Are much More available and certain diagnostic tests can be obtained in a very Short i can obtain a no urgent it scan for an office patient in less than 24 and even though i am not a i can usually obtain a no urgent Fri scan within two Days without having to get approval or consultation from a in my Community of there Are four relatively new it scanners and three Fri one of which is part of a free standing xray my patients Seldom have to wait More than a week or two to see a specialist for a no urgent and the Chomiak will have to come up with some thing much better than the present Grant pro Gram if he expects to wait for any elec slow the 6xodus Ofman its Only its Ito a family Low fee had to cover All my office resp Vaca continuing education they generally thought that the government paid for those benefits they refused to believe that my treatment of their multiple health problems High blood High heart chronic Depres impotence would Only Gener ate an Al inclusive fee of less than per they could not believe that i was Only paid per Day to look after hospitalized regardless of the complexity of the i got the impression that some were even insulted that their health was valued so there is no shortage of Hospital Beds and patients do not sleep in hallways for Days waiting for a hospitalized patients who no longer need an acute medical but Are not Able to return can be transferred to a personal care Home within 2448 including patients awaiting a pc bed in Winnipeg regularly occupy an acute Hospital bed for weeks or even months before a pc bed becomes my patients in Winnipeg could not believe that the fee paid to me for an office visit in 1995 was less than some actually thought that i was lying when i added that this dismally a but i doubt that any health minister would even answer his Telephone in the Middle of the night for a fee of let alone agree to be responsible for someones i Hospital medical care 24 hours a insurance companies Here pay to us for most office visits fee rates vary from company to Compa More for complicated if i see a multiple problem patient such As the one described the payments Are usually us for each visit with no limit As to the number of times per year i can charge for that higher level of ser in i was Only allowed to Bill for a higher level of service for which i was paid the grand sum of in 1995 once a and if Misc Felt that too Many of my patients had received a higher level of service in any particular i had to undergo an intimidating meeting at with the threat of Large Finan Cial penalties if the committee did not accept my justification for such Misc did not expect that my chronic multiple problem patients would magically cease to suffer multiple or that i would Only focus on one or two problems per visit and somehow prescribe medications one at a time without due regard for drug interactions and their affects on the other medical problems my pcs Clear goal was to intimidate doctors so that they would not Bill a higher level of ser vice even once a year per in the the insurance companies Only require that doctors provide documentation in the medical record that a higher level of service was indeed they do not presume to question the medical necessity of a particular level of with the exception of some procedures or operations that Are arguably Coset my situation Here is very and my family is Happy that we moved to i do miss my family and friends in Winnipeg but my Only regret is that i did not move because there Are so Many other excellent opportunities like this out Side of Chomiak will have to come up with something much better than the present Grant program if he expects to slow the exodus of Manitoba family phys letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email Security cuts affect staff i would like to respond to the health care Issue of laying off Security personnel from the everyone knows we have a crisis situation with nurses in the All the hospitals Are working very Short support staff have been Cross trained to pick up extra duties and expected to function at a level that is impossible to in our Security was Cut Back to a level that left patients and staff at because of Doc tors and support staff being put at risk in our emergency it has necessitated an increase in the Security staff not a patients in Hospital now Are very sick and require heavier support staff and nurses Are working under very demanding working so i believe that patients at times Are at i think it is about time that our government started to listen to the health care workers before they Cut More of the bedside healthcare shame on Janice Prairie Winnipeg lung association helps smokers a recent Story in the free press oth ers butt out to bans Light May 30 on smoking statistics quoted me As saying that anything that Delamor izes or stigmatized smokers is a Good my and that of the Manitoba lung is that Degl amortizing smoking not smok ers is smokers Are too often blamed when in it is the tobacco Industry that should be the target of our the Manitoba lung associations goals Are to help smokers quit if they Are to prevent children from becoming addicted to to make the Public aware of the health hazards of Active and secondhand and to advocate for measures that will reduce tobacco consumption in our the lung association is very aware of the Power of the difficulty of breaking that and the frustration that Many smokers it is our Hope that the second hand smoke Issue can be resolved with cooperation Between All members of the Joanne Douglas Manitoba lung association Brandon Victory intended for individual the editorial recognize ability june 1 misses the Point somewhat in stating that it is not necessarily a Victory for the the Victory was intended for an individual in this Casey Martin who has both the ability and the wish to play be it with the pea or it was not intended to be a Victory for the disabled As a i dont think that the disabled will now be lining up for the pea demanding Shorter wheel chair accessibility referring to the example of the sons to hit a pitched Ball All that certainly it was time to broaden the concept of Given this Day and age but it has not lowered the bar As was Martin still has to prove his ability on the pea tour to drive the not drive the Ball Lloyd Mckay Winnipeg change Law to protect children of As a of course i think that adoption rights for Gays and lesbians would be a significant Victory for Gay As a i could not agree More with the editorial the Childs interest june 5 reminding Justice minister Gord Mackintosh and All of us that changes to adoption Law should be made in the Best inter ests of my partner and i have shared our life for 10 for six of those years we planned for a child and attempted for one of us to when that finally we celebrated with family and we chose our laughters name we attended our midwife appoint ments and both of us shared in the experience of the birth of our we share our parenting responsibilities our child has Loving and grandparents from each of her parents sides of the Fame our daughter has two and in this Case both her parents Are our Daugh ters relationship with her second Parent is not legally recognized or under she has Only one As a she is denied benefits and protections that Are so Basic that most families forget How much they really count on these the Manitoba government even denied us the Basic right to name our child As we would have been to have both of her parents responsible my partner and i Are committed to the Well being of our child no matter we know that Laws exist to protect children when their parents do not live up to their com fitment parents need to be held responsible for supporting their Chil even with the Best of Intel relationships children need to know that they will not lose the financial support of either of their parents in this Gay and lesbian parents need to be held accountable to the same standards lesbians that heterosexual parents Are depending on the work Environ my partner could be denied family health coverage and be unable to provide health care for our Daugh she could be denied time off work to care for our child when she is in our daughter could and her mom could be denied bereavement leave from work to attend her if my partner were to our daughter would not be automatically entitled to survivor benefits or inheritance if i were to our daughters parental relationship with her other mom would not be we have taken whatever Steps we can to ensure that these things will not happen to our but without a change to legislation we can Only Hope for the our daughter deserves the securities of other Chil and the Law will have to change to give her those Lis Naylor Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau what Sarah an Muka ;