Choosing private medicine

Ideally, everyone would have access to high-quality, dignified care—regardless of their ability to pay. Unfortunately, the reality in Canada is that not everyone has access to quality care within medically acceptable time frames because that care is not considered urgent.

In other words, the system prioritizes vital care (oncology, traumatology, cardiology, etc.) according to its available resources and creates a waiting list for everything that isn’t life-threatening. Elective orthopaedics falls into this category. Patients often have to wait up to 12 months for an initial consultation, then six to 18 more months to have surgery. Due to an ageing population and stagnating resources, the problem is far from being resolved. This situation has a high human cost, including permanent disability, dependence on painkillers, a loss of autonomy, unemployment, and significant financial losses.

Private medicine is meant to fill in the gaps where the public system is sometimes inadequate or insufficient. This is not an ideological stance. Free universal health care must be defended as much as possible—especially when it’s a matter of life or death. However, private medicine is like a valve that releases pressure on the public system and restores a high quality of life and dignity for thousands of people.