letter to the editor!

[growler]

this is a letter to the editor telling about a private clinic,operating in nova scotia,for insurance company's that insure people and companies that choose not to use the provincial healthcare system,so their customers use outside clinic's and such.
the thing i now wonder is how these places make a profit,and still provide good services ?
or is the gov'ts that run our healthcare system's like ohip just spending to much trying to look good ?


On Thursday, I performed six orthopedic surgical procedures at Scotia Surgery. The time utilized was 60 per cent of what I would use for the same surgeries at our big hospital.

This is efficiency, by anyone’s definition.

The cost per procedure is significantly less than that in our public system hospital. Indeed, the total cost per procedure is less than the administrative costs of just getting a patient through the front door at our public institution.

The outcomes of surgeries performed at Scotia Surgery are no different than those at our larger public hospital.

The patient satisfaction rate with their overall experience at Scotia Surgery is outstanding.

The fact that I operated at Scotia on Thursday did not take me out of the public system — I had no surgery time at our public hospital that day.

This was extra time, over and above my usual OR allotment, which is how Scotia Surgery works.

Scotia Surgery is an excellent example of a successful public-private partnership that has greatly benefited our patients who require this type of surgery.

It is an efficient, effective and safe program.

Kudos to the Nova Scotia Department of Health and to Capital District health authority for their intestinal fortitude in renewing the program in the face of political backlash.

Gerald Reardon, MD, FRCS(C), Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre