How to survive our patchwork health care

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How to survive our patchwork health care
Like all too many Canadians, I could draw from personal experiences with the health-care system, along with family and friends, and pull together a list of near disasters, lengthy waits and incredible inefficiencies. Thankfully, I could also do the same in the other direction: List all the times the health system was there when we needed it, and worked in a well-oiled, fine-tuned fashion to save and improve the quality of our lives.

According to Michael Decter and Francesca Grosso, founding members of the Health Council of Canada and authors of Navigating Canada's Health Care, while our health system may be "universal" -- meaning everyone in Canada has the right to health coverage -- it is by no means "uniform," in quality of care and service or even in what qualifies for coverage. This may be why the authors titled the book as they did, omitting the word "system" where it typically falls (our "health care system"), since we don't really have one: We have 13, one for every province and territory in Canada .

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