Bernie Sanders awed by Canadian health care

The Vermont senator and former presidential candidate says the great lesson he learned during a tour of Toronto hospitals is that Canada’s health system is innovative, contrary to what he hears from U.S. critics.

By THERESA BOYLE Health Reporter
Sat., Oct. 28, 2017

Excerpts:

Sanders said he was particularly impressed by his tour of Sinai Health System’s state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit. Built three years ago, it has separate rooms for each infant, which helps with infection control, privacy and noise. Pediatrician-in-chief Dr. Shoo Lee described a new model of care he has developed in which the parents of critically ill and premature infants serve as primary caregivers.

His tour of the hospital also took a stop at its billing office, where he seemed surprised to hear only one person worked.

Sanders also visited the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital. There, he was told by medical director Dr. Barry Rubin that there was no waiting list at all for patients needing urgent surgery. Rubin explained that patients at the centre get high-quality health care from world-leading experts. “Nobody thinks about the expense they are going to incur,” Rubin said.

Sanders met with a patient who had recently undergone bypass surgery as well as a procedure to correct leaky heart valves. Sanders asked him how Canadians felt about paying more in taxes than Americans but not having to pay private health insurance.

“The good thing is I have not had to worry about what this is costing,” the patient said. “I know it is expensive.”

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/28/bernie-sanders-awed-by-canadian-health-care.html