"But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi."It's an odd time of year to be quoting Christmas stories, but anyone familiar with the sad story of two young lovers who sacrifice, respectively, their long locks of beautiful hair and inherited gold watch in order to buy each other a watch strap and an exquisite set of hair clips, has to be watching the developments in Lewisporte this week with a sense of the same irony,- O Henry, in his classic short story
The Premier, the wisest magi of them all, is openly boasting about the 55% cost overruns at the new Lewisporte hospital, while defending his decision to cut X-ray and laboratory services from the same community.
"For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone."What's the point of spending $33 million dollars on a new hospital if you have to sacrifice the most basic medical services in order to pay for it?- ibid
2 comments:
I too live in rural NL, where I found out a long time ago that basic health care does not exist in any shape or form, within a reasonable distance, that does not cost us a half a tank of gas. Danny likes nice buildings to look at, without all the necessary bells and whistles needed to operate the buildings. He has no intention of having a personal need to use any rural facilities, nor does the other MHAs. The real pity is when basic medical services are taken away or reduce, the hospital becomes a glorified doctor's office. There is limited service as it is in rural NL, where on a quiet Saturday afternoon, it took 4 hours to put 3 stitches in my finger.
Here are some thoughts on using modern, readily available technologies (Skype-like video chat, for example..) to maintain a high level of medical support in communities while clustering expensive services:
http://tr.im/xS6n
When are we going to see our "fearless leader" tackle the mess of a health care system for real? I want a more public, comprehensive approach.
I have no doubt there is a plan, but I'll tell ya: all we hear about is how bad things are and that they ain't gettin' better...
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