Services Lost

Living in rural western Canada one shutters when comparing basic services offered here to services offered back east in rural Newfoundland. For example, if one needs to see a doctor at our local clinic you do not have to wait "forever" as the case for an appointment back east. In our local area, one stop service is offered in a small clinic where the maximum time to wait for an appointment is a mere day or two. The waiting room is generally not full where people are sitting for hours on end. Follow up tests go in the clinic, and if one is early in the am, there is never a problem getting a series of blood work, xrays, and other diagnostic work done with no major wait. One stop full service that many rural communities in Newfoundland would cry for. So, why does one province have the service and the other does not. The day is over when we can say that one province is a have while the other is a have not. Both of the provinces are often compared as the poor house of Canadian politics. The answer lies in the will of government to not only make health care a priority but to follow up with action to ensure they "walk the talk." However, the buck not only rests with government. It rests with those employed to provide the service. Collectively, things can improve back east to allow for a level of service that mirrors what we have here in Western Canada. With the aging population the number one priority of those retirees that the government of Newfoundland hopes to attract back to their roots will be health care. It will not happen if the service does not improve.