We need accountability in health care  notes a grass roots Canadian campaign newsletter.

                   The self written and distributed newsletter notes that “….. then there is the “stupid”  decision to cut back on emergency services at the Seven Oaks Hospital in Winnipeg Canada.  It seems that after a major update to the emergency department of this major regional medical center’s emergency department that the working hours of the emergency department were cut back.  Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing – in plain site.   The amazing part is that even with press releases on the openings of the updated unit complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony and a how to reach pdf being written and offered on the actual hospital website the cutbacks went into place.

Phase 1 of New Emergency Department is now complete!

Phase 1 of the new Seven Oaks Hospital Emergency Department is now complete.  A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony officially opening the new facility was held on August 19. 

 “This state-of-the-art department was designed to ensure we can provide our citizens with the best emergency care possible,” said Health Minister Theresa Oswald. “This expanded emergency department means improved care for patients and their families, and a better work environment for our health-care professionals.” 

Please see the attached .pdf files for information on the new facility and Press Release.

Phase 1 of New Emergency Department is now complete!

Attachment	Size
When To Go To The ER.pdf	91.71 KB
New Emergency Department Ribbon Cutting.pdf	297.45 KB
Press Release August 18 2008.pdf	100.58 KB

        If one looks at a map of the coverage area of the catchment areas of the Seven Oaks Hospital  (SOGH) is clearly visible.  There are no other major regional medical centers what so ever in the adjacent local and rural areas just north of the only major center in this very large geographic areas of the Province of  Manitoba.

”

source:  http://www.travelmanitoba.com/default.asp?page=130&node=585

      Further the writer of this article notes:  ” Cutting back these emergency services goes against the concept of community based hospitals, which if managed properly are more cost effective and can provide the same level of care as the Health Sciences Center ( the major teaching hospital and medical center in the major and dominant city  of Winnipeg in the whole Canadian Province of Manitoba ).

	820 Sherbrook Street Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3A 1R9                                   telephone 204-787-3661

Search the HSC website

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

News Click for more news Patient & Visitor Info Well Wishes Visiting hours and other info Where to park Where to eat and shop Where to stay ATM locations Smoking policy Maps & Directions Directions to HSC Map of HSC Printable map HSC Retirees Welcome to Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg. Located in the heart of Winnipeg, Health Sciences Centre (HSC) is one of Canada’s largest tertiary care facilities. We play a unique role in providing health care services to residents of Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and Nunavut. We are a major referral centre for complex health problems that require expert consultation and management. We are also Manitoba’s designated trauma centre and the centre for transplants, neurosurgery, burns and most hospital-based pediatric care. Our highly skilled teams of patient care professionals provide acute and continuing care to the ill and injured. Our support teams ensure that visiting and receiving care at Health Sciences Centre is a comfortable and safe experience. May hope flourish in this place. source:  http://www.hsc.mb.ca/    The writer of the pamphlet goes on to say “  What I have found over the last few weeks , and time period,   is that many healthcare workers ( in the City of Winnipeg and Manitoba Canada areas), in general , are very opinionated  about the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (W.H.R.A.). 287 Broadway Winnipeg, MB R3C 0R9, Canada (204) 926-6000? wrha.mb.ca Medical Tourism Medical Tourism http://unidrugs.com/ Unidrugs.com is an online pharmacy that provides cheap prescription drugs online with convenient ordering and confidential delivery www.mmedsolution.com 287 Broadway Winnipeg, MB R3C 0R9, Canada (204) 926-6000? wrha.mb.ca

Canadian Doctor: Shortages So Bad North Of The Border Some Towns … – Dr. David Gratzer, writing in the Wall Street Journal, also makes a good point about just how dependent the Canadian health care system is on America’s. Indeed, Canada’s provincial governments themselves rely on American medicine. …

Why we need a public options for health care and debunking … – Every time we try to have a discussion about a public single payer option we hear how we shouldn’t have it and Canada as used as an example of how bad public health care options are. This article debunks the myths surrounding Canadian health … As a Canadian living in the United States for the past 17 years, I am frequently asked by Americans and Canadians alike to declare one health care system as the better one. The article continues, debunking myths about Canadian …

Wash Park Prophet: Canadian Health Care Works – The things that work in the Canadian health care system are explained here. I suspect, although the article does not say so, that in addition to having lower administrative costs and saving money with preventantive care, that many providers are also paid less richly in Canada than in the United States (although providers in Canada have essentially no bad debt losses, while American providers are swimming in bad debt). Posted by Andrew Oh-Willeke at 6/09/2009 12:08:00 AM …

            An example of why some seek medical tourism or “medtravel”  Tales from the “Que”.

            Recently a grassroots organization in Canada organized a public meeting.  The group noted ” We need accountability in healthcare”.

           ”The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority”  needs to be held accountable for its actions.  Remember the “Brian Sinclair” incident.   For over 34 hours Mr. Sinclair sat in the Health Sciences Center emergency ward ; he died a few hours before he was found that he needed help.  It became clear that he did not need to die.  Instead of being transparent with the public as to what took place, Winnipeg Regional Health Care authority appeared to mislead the public.”

              Over the last few of months we foundthta WHRA was receiving “brown envelopes’ in return for contracts.  Now , I understand the provincial auditor is investigating the issue.  Then there is that stupid decision to cut back on emergency EMO services at Seven Oaks Hospital.  Cutting back these emergency services ultimately goes against the concept of community based hospitals , which by the way , if managed properly , are more  cost effiecient and provide the same quality of care as the Health Sciences Center.

Medsolution Medtravel Medical Tourism

http://lakol.org/

Glucophage Online Pharmacy

www.mmedsolution.com

Malaysia serves as an excellent example of the growth of medical tourism.

Medical , as well as dental tourism , was only instituted formally in the medical community with legislation and guidelines in 1999. Since that time Medical Tourism has taken off as an industry in Malaysia both as medical and health tourism. The contributions to the Malaysian economy have been substantial. In the fiscal year 2006 a count total of close to 300,ooo tourists and gross revenue of 32.8 million dollars was achieved.

Mmedical Tourism
www.mmedsolution.com

http://lakol.org/

Glucophage Online Pharmacy

Bisphenol A (BPA) — a chemical commonly found in hard plastics — has for the first time been linked to female reproductive disorders in a strongly-worded statement released by 38 scientists and published online in the journal Reproductive Toxicology. The compound, which is used in a variety of consumer items such as polycarbonate plastic baby bottles, microwave oven dishes and sports bottles, often seeps from containers and enters the bodies of humans.

After reviewing close to 700 studies, the scientists determined that people are regularly exposed to BPA levels that exceed those harmful to lab animals — singling out infants and fetuses as the most vulnerable. The statement was accompanied by a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) study that found that uterine damage caused by BPA exposure in newborn animals might predict a host of reproductive disorders in women — including endometriosis, cystic ovaries, fibroids and cancers. While earlier studies had linked early-stage cancers and lower sperm counts in animals to low BPA doses, no study had ever linked exposure to female reproductive diseases.

Not surprisingly, the plastics industry balked at the findings, labeling the scientists as biased and alarmist; they also rejected the BPA link to reproductive diseases as unfounded and based on uncertain science. Representatives cited the conclusions reached by two government scientific committees in Europe and Japan — that decided there was insufficient evidence to restrict BPA’s use because of metabolic differences between mice and humans — as proof of BPA’s safe use.

Frederick vom Saal, a reproductive toxicologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, countered by claiming: “There is essentially no difference in the way that rat or mouse cells respond to BPA and the way that humans respond to it,” adding that while the amount in humans “may seem like an incredibly small amount, it causes effects in human cells at the part-per-trillion level.” Though no studies have yet been conducted linking BPA exposure to direct human effects, the scientists hope to generate interest in human research with their statement.

“We know what doses the animals were given, and when we look at humans, we see blood levels within that range or actually higher, which is a cause of concern and should stimulate more human research,” said Jerrold Heindel of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. A panel set up by the NIH’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction — responsible for a preliminary BPA report released earlier this year that was drafted by a consulting firm with financial ties to the chemical industry — will convene next week to decide whether to declare the chemical a human reproductive toxin.

Here’s at least hoping that sound science eventually wins the day in clarifying this worrisome health issue, regardless of the outcome. If BPA is labeled a human reproductive toxin, however, you can bet that we’ll soon witness a significant decline in the use of plastics unless measures are taken to replace the chemical with something more benign.

In the end – if one is to be thorough – a buyer of insurance always has to go to the actual insurance contract. There is no other way. Somewhere down the line the contract had to be vetted by lawyers and accountants and submitted to a government agency which oversees and regulates insurance plans and coverage’s. Nothing will ruin the long weekend or even the month of administrators of any insurance firm than a letter from the “registrar “or regulatory board of any insurance industry. One has to examine that actual document.The firm may be resistant to provide it or hand it over. They may say and respond at great length (usually verbally) that such a document or paper does not exist. It has to. In the end the company will have to forward you to those insurance documents. Glossy marketing brochures and the like are no substitute for such information. Actual legal documents are the only means of determining your insurance coverage. In a pinch or negotiations the insurer will use the data and facts – why not you as well?

The key factor in terms of medical tourism and insurance coverage is that now an increasing amount of insurance companies – group plans, commercial coverage and coverage by employers are now covering overseas treatments as well as surgeries.

Read the small print of your medical insurance coverage and benefits and as well the extent to which the coverage by the medical insurance coverage covers any follow-up treatments required. A key question as well is what happens if mistakes or complications arise – what costs are covered or are not covered. Are out of pocket or additional costs covered. It is not a negative feature of the care provider chosen. Complications can arise at home, or at the best first world medical care intuitions. Why not could they not arise overseas? The major difference here is that you are far away from home – or even far away from other specialized medical care if need be.

MMedsolution

dimebon online pharmacy

http://lakol.org/

Glucophage Online Pharmacy

Winnipeg  Canada  Auto Finance

www.mmedsolution.com

One might think that Americans could not see the writing on the wall of the experience of others when it comes to socialized medicine.  America may have its troubles with its medical system – yet only has to look to our “neighbor to the North” , that it Canada for an example of what is to come .  Indeed in Canada when major high ranking politicians or their families take ill , it is widely reported in Canadian press  how these figures , or their families “run to the US ” for medical care.   The amazing part is that these events are not said in a negative light , or the point that there is a two tier medical system in Canada for the privileged , but rather looked on as positive thing – almost as American’s treasure people of fame.  Its as if Canadians expect their leaders to be treated well well – so the country can prosper – but not be treated at home in Canada , or treated in the same system to the same standards as they unfortunately have come to expect.

What is the stop gap and saver of the Canadian medical system is the proximity of most Canadians to the American medical system and the systems or rapid travel  and communication in our modern era.  Imagine if this safety valve of close by , relatively affordable American health care did not exist .  Canadians would certainly be in more trouble.

Such is life.

Medical Tourism  Hungary

http://lakol.org/

Glucophage Online Pharmacy

www.mmedsolution.com

Medical Solution

www.mmediicalsolution.com

A Montreal, Quebec Canada may be well forced to shut down almost 25 per cent of its beds. In the past number of years, nearly half the doctors there — 25 of them– have resigned as a result of difficult working conditions, but only several have been hired as replacements.

“ Doctors are said to be working extra long shifts and overtime to provide medical care. “This cannot go on for long without a reduction of the standards of medical care and expertise” states the hospital administration. The hospital will need in order of 20 to 30 doctors to keep this regional center open. Doctors as if seems are in overall short supply.

The Montreal area hospital has had to reduce its level of service to the community at large. Service was reduced in order that the remaining doctors would only have to “work 12 hours or less a day, if possible,” he said.

The impact of the hospital’s decision to close the beds as of Friday is yet unclear.

“There might be longer waits in the emergency room for the patients, as well some of the ambulances may have to be rerouted to other hospitals which, for some patients, might mean being further away from home,” Keyway said.

But while some people at the hospital say it’s frustrating that the beds must close, they understand the reasoning.

“You can’t push staff beyond their reach either … if closing 30 beds allows them to give safe care, it’s too bad, but I guess that’s the way it has to be done,” one woman told CTV Montreal.

The beds might be closed at the hospital for as long as a year.

Medical Solution

www.mmediicalsolution.com

Medical Solution
MMedical Solution
www.mmediicalsolution.com

Medical tourism is a cash-rich industry. In Asia alone, studies have shown that some $390 billion are spent annually for health care. Most of this, finds its way into Thailand, India and Singapore, countries which currently lead the way in this field.

Can you imagine if the Philippines can just bite off a 10-percent chunk of this total budget? And that is just for medical tourism, not including the plain pleasure seekers, the bargain hunters, and the sightseers.

Medical tourism consists of medical care, health and wellness, traditional and alternative health care such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, virgin coconut oil, organic food, neutraceuticals and long-term tourism and international retirement health zones where foreign patients can recuperate, rehabilitate and retire. To complete the picture, the components of tourism and shopping have been added to increase the choices of tourists and bring in more.

Among the services that the country offers to foreigners are elective procedures such as cosmetic surgery, liposuction and dental surgery, and life-saving procedures such as coronary bypass surgery, kidney transplants and cancer treatment.

As testimony to the country’s advantages in medical tourism, a general checkup in the United States costs $5,000 while it will cost only the equivalent of $500 in the Philippines. Coronary bypass surgery, which clocks up $50,000 in the United States, will cost only $25,000 locally. And while kidney transplants can reach up to $150,000 abroad, it will only cost $25,000 here.

Even if the plane fare is added, trip to resort and a $100 gift certificate to add to their shopping money after they recover, the Philippine rate will still come out so much cheaper than having the surgeries abroad.

Cost is not only the country’s competitive advantage. The Philippines is also blessed with well-trained and highly skilled medical practitioners that are fluent in English and have received postgraduate training in the developed countries. Nurses and paramedical staff are also one of the best, as attested by the strong demand for their services and skills in foreign countries.

Besides competence, they are also known for their compassion, a key ingredient in caring for patients.

When the patients recuperate from the medical procedures that they came for, the variety of the country’s tourism offerings is also seen as a key advantage to luring medical tourism.

For sure, there will be the staple and indispensable aqua and beach tourism in Cebu, Palawan, Albay, Camiguin, Bohol, Boracay and of course Eastern Visayas. But the country also will offer historical, heritage and cultural tourism in places such as Leyte in Eastern Visayas, Vigan in Ilocos, the Banawe Rice Terraces, Fort Santiago and Intramuros, and the many interesting sites and activities in every province.

And don’t forget the great

Doctors and clinics in three South Florida counties account for most of the billions of dollars charged to Medicare nationwide for HIV and AIDS drugs and services, billing records show.

Federal health care regulators call the lopsided billing patterns “egregious” and warn that South Florida — particularly Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties — is a potential hotbed for health care fraud, waste and abuse.

“It”s all ultimately part of the money-driven, underground economy in Miami,” said Benson B. Weintraub, a health care fraud lawyer based in Fort Lauderdale.

According to a report this week by the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, health care providers in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach submitted $2.5 billion in claims to Medicare on behalf of HIV/AIDS patients in 2005.

By contrast, providers in the rest of the country submitted less than $1 billion in claims combined.

Suspected scams, which involve the recruitment of patients, kickbacks and unnecessary medical services, aren”t limited to HIV clinics.

In March, federal inspectors found dozens of wheelchair and electric scooter suppliers in Florida that ran afoul of federal rules, including phantom operations that billed the government but had no bricks-and-mortar locations.

“Medicare continues to be highly vulnerable to fraud and abuse and immediate steps must be taken,” Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said of his office”s findings.

Mr. Levinson”s report also found that Medicare officials and contractors could not provide a “clinical explanation” for the high level of billing.

One common HIV/AIDS scam involves doctors and clinics employing “runners” who recruit HIV and AIDS patients, then pay kickbacks if patients get unneeded medical treatment. In turn, crooked providers bill Medicare for the services.

After getting shut down, some providers open different clinics under a new corporate name.

In a written response to Mr. Levinson”s report, Herb B. Kuhn, acting deputy administrator for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said Medicare officials have taken “aggressive recent actions” to crack down on fraud.

Though provider billings for HIV/AIDS in Southern Florida have increased from $1.5 billion in 2004 to $3.3 billion in 2006, CMS is getting tougher scrutinizing claims before providing reimbursement, Mr. Kuhn wrote.

In 2004, he wrote, Medicare reimbursed 66 percent of all claims and paid out $1 billion. But in 2006, CMS paid $890 million, approving just 27 percent of all claims submitted.

“In fact, many of the providers with aberrant billing activity … were referred to law enforcement and are now facing prosecution,” Mr. Kuhn wrote.

Mr. Weintraub said the federal court in Southern Florida has a reputation among lawyers as “the health care fraud capital of the United States.” He said a host of factors contribute to the problem.

The fraud often happens in disenfranchised communities and sometimes involves “illegal residents because they”re paid cash for virtually no labor, and that in my view is a very degrading and exploitative practice,” Mr. Weintraub said.

Federal authorities said they”re increasing efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud. In April, the FBI and U.S. Attorney”s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced the arrests of 10 owners of HIV clinics and medical-equipment dealers on money-laundering charges.

One company, Coral Way Professional Health Services Inc., was charged with giving kickbacks to patients. At the clinics, workers injected the patients with a saline solution but later billed Medicare for actual prescribed drugs, authorities said.

A federal task force aimed at rooting out Medicare fraud has resulted in 34 criminal cases involving a combined $142 million in Medicare bills in Southern Florida, authorities said.

R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, yesterday called the federal task force “a critical part of our continuing resolve to safeguard the Medicare program.” He said health care prosecutions have increased nearly 50 percent compared with last year.

Investigators are largely focusing on infusion therapy and medical equipment dealing schemes, Jonathan I. Solomon, special agent in charge of the FBI”s Miami field office, said yesterday. Infusion therapy mostly deals with medication given intravenously or through a feeding tube.

HIV/AIDS billing scams have been occurring for years in Southern Florida. In 2005, the state Board of Medicine convened a meeting to discuss the problem.

http://www.mmedicalsolution.com

Medical Tourism Medical Tourism
www.mmedsolution.com

Recent tests conducted in Vietnam and China indicate that Chinese bird flu vaccines used among poultry in Vietnam are still effective, local newspaper Labor reported today.

After testing samples taken in this year’s bird flu outbreaks in the two northern provinces of Hai Duong and Ninh Binh and the two southern provinces of Bac Lieu and Hau Giang, Vietnamese experts found that Chinese H5N1 vaccines can protect 90-95 percent of vaccinated fowls from being attacked by the disease.

The experts at the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent 15 samples taken in different Vietnamese localities hit by bird flu in late 2006 and early 2007 to China for testing. Analysis of Chinese experts shows that the protection rate among chickens reaches 100 percent.

Vietnam has so far this year vaccinated over 161.5 million fowls, mainly chickens and ducks, against bird flu viruses. Now, three Vietnamese provinces, Dien Bien and Cao Bang in the North and Dong Thap in the South, are being hit by bird flu, according to the department.

H5N1 Avian Bird Flu Drill in TEXAS « Verumlux – H5N1 Avian Bird Flu Drill in TEXAS. This is just “practice” folks… remember that. I do find it kind of weird that they decide to pick “2 billion” as a number out of thin air. Oh and remember Baxter just shipped some Flu Vaccines with …

World Bulletin [ Bird flu, Ebola lab accidents raise biosecurity … – That accident added to public health concerns following the recent disclosure that deadly H5N1 bird flu virus samples were mixed with seasonal flu samples at a Baxter International contracted laboratory in Austria. …

Bangka Belitung ::: Bird flu endemic areas « Bird Flu Information … – Coordinator of Local Disease Control Center (LDCC), Judnaidy, said that those had been stated as bird flu endemic areas according to number of death birds. “This is according to survey result of Participatory Disease Surveillance and …

Scientists Use Phylogenetics to Trace the Travels of Bird Flu … – Phylogeographer Robert Wallace has Bird Flu on the brain. Like many scientific researchers, when birds and people in Asia started dying from the virus he became concerned about the possibility of a flu pandemic. …

Boy in Vietnam tests positive for bird flu | Silver Scorpio … – Hanoi – A Vietnamese boy has tested positive for the avian influenza virus, the fourth confirmed human case of bird flu in Vietnam this year, local media.

A TIME’S MEMORY: Indonesia. Govt allots Rp 200 billion for bird … – The government has allocated Rp 200 billion (US$17 billion) to finance research on bird flu in an effort to prevent and mitigate the spread of the virus, according to the health minister. “Foreign financial assistance is also available, …

Bird flu quarantine on British Columbia farms ends (KNDO – | – Bird flu quarantine on British Columbia farms ends (KNDO -, Medicare news and Medicare resources online.

Government provides 200 billions rupiah for avian influenza … – Surabaya, East Java – Indonesia government provides 200 billions rupiah for avian influenza research, said Health Minister, SIti Fadilah Supari on international symposium of bird flu at Airlangga University, Thursday (19/3). …

Three-year-old dies from bird flu | Look At Vietnam – Tran was the third person to have died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Vietnam this year, according to official figures. The two others had both slaughtered and eaten sick poultry before they died, Vietnam News Agency cited the …

AsiaMedia :: NEPAL: Media orientation on bird flu organised –

Vietnam boy tests positive for bird flu: doctors — Intellasia.Net – Intellasia.Net – first for SE Asia business and finance news coverage.

Vietnam: Additional Bird Flu Suspect Hospitalized – Patient suspected of having bird flu. A four-year-old patient in Chau Thanh district, Dong Thap province, has shown symptoms of the H5N1 virus, according to the director of the district medical centre, Nguyen Thanh Son. …

Kabupaten Bandung, West Java ::: Bird flu emerges in chickens … – Soreang, Bandung, West Java – Bird flu emerges in Kabupaten Bandung. Since Monday (16/3) until Thursday (19/3), about 20 dead chickens tested positive bird flu infection. Head of Livestock and Fisheries Kabupaten Bandung confirmed the …

Indonesia: Research Bird Flu Government Provide Rp200 Billion … – Help overseas but there is certainly still remains in our control,” said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari after speaking international symposium on bird flu in the Airlangga University Surabaya, Kamis (19 / 3). …

Vietnam Reports Another Bird Flu Fatality – Vietnam confirms 3rd human case died of bird flu this year. www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-19 18:47:40. HANOI, March 19 (Xinhua) The three-year old Vietnamese boy from Southwestern province Dong Thap of Vietnam confirmed of being infected …

Bird flu quarantine on British Columbia farms ends – VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A bird flu-related quarantine has been lifted on 22 poultry farms in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver.

Mmedical Tourism

http://unidrugs.com/

Unidrugs.com is an online pharmacy that provides cheap prescription drugs online with convenient ordering and confidential delivery

Medtravel Medical Tourism

www.mmedsolution.com