This is a piece I wrote for my political reporting class. Funnily enough, I originally thought about writing this story after reading an article in the Globe about the expert panel report on neurosurgery... and then the day after I submitted this story to my instructor, the Globe published another piece along the same lines.
******
It’s been less than two months since the Ontario ministry of health and long-term care has implemented the first phase of an expert panel’s recommendations on how to improve access to neurosurgery. Already, the number of patients being transferred to the United States for surgery has decreased from at least 15 per month to three, a decrease of more than 80 per cent.
“We feel there’s an early success there,” said ministry spokesperson Andrew Morrison.
The expert panel report, which was released publicly on February 15, made 21 recommendations for ways to improve patient care. The first phase of action required the Ontario government to provide extra funding to the University Health Network, based in Toronto, so that 100 additional neurosurgery cases could be dealt with over the current and next fiscal years.
“From the ministry standpoint, we are not doctors and we’re not medical experts, but we are excellent at funding--we hold the purse strings,” Morrison said. “So what the expert panel told us was that if you’re able to fund additional neurosurgery cases, that should help with [reducing the number of] out-of-country transfers.”
Morrison said it will take time to determine how effectively the funding improves overall service to patients, but the short-term results look promising.
The funding will help obtain access to more beds, operating rooms and extra nursing and hospital staff.
However, in some cases it’s not just a question of funding but of qualified, available neurosurgeons. Morrison said there are shortages of doctors across Ontario and the ministry is working with training colleges and universities to expand medical education.
“That’s something that we look at (on) an ongoing basis, not necessarily related to neurosurgery but as an overall approach to healthcare in Ontario, and not just medical students but nursing students and all the other disciplines and allied healthcare professionals that are part of the Ontario healthcare system,” he said.
He pointed out that neurosurgery is a highly-skilled area of medicine, and that it may be difficult to find good candidates to fill those roles.
James Rutka, one of the authors of the expert panel report, said there’s no question that part of the problem is a need for more doctors.
“We not only need these trained individuals but we need more of them, because neurosurgery is a very exacting profession and discipline, and the population is growing but the number of neurosurgeons has not grown at the same rate,” said Rutka, a surgeon and researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children and the chair of the University of Toronto’s division of neurosurgery.
Rutka said part of the solution is to convince medical students that neurosurgery is a worthwhile specialty. Hospitals have to be able to promise students that after medical school and up to 10 additional years of rigorous training, there will be jobs waiting for them, he said.
The expert panel’s recommendations for phase two include “rolling out” the changes already put in place at UHN to all 13 hospitals in Ontario that provide access to neurosurgery. In order to increase access at all of these centres, Morrison said the government will be working with external healthcare providers. This means Ontario citizens will get the benefit of publicly-funded healthcare while also using the services of private healthcare teams.
So where is the line between public and private healthcare?
Morrison emphasized that “the government is committed to offering universal, publicly-funded healthcare to Ontarians,” and that any services funded by the government are public services. He also referred to the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act, passed in 2004, which closed the loopholes to extra billing user fees and privately-funded healthcare that were discovered in the past.
Essentially, contracting out to external businesses to take care of shortages in neurosurgery was part of the problem, not the solution, said Morrison. “That’s kind of what we were doing—we were sending emergency cases out of the country. So we were paying an external provider to do the work.”
Instead, the ministry is focusing on keeping neurosurgical procedures inside the province—even if it has to put up additional funding and bring in outside specialists to do the work.
Ontario isn’t the only jurisdiction in Canada to be making changes in the direction of two-tier health care. The Globe and Mail reported in a recent article that Quebec health minister Philippe Couillard has agreed to allow doctors to have “duo” practices in both the public and private systems. The change came as a response to a provincial healthcare report called “Getting our money’s worth” which proposed many changes, including allowing private insurance companies to cover public health services.
Couillard cautioned Quebecers about the changes, saying they “must have no impact on the public health care system and no impact on access to care by the general public.” But critics, including University of Toronto law professor Colleen Flood, have said Quebec has taken a firm step toward a two-tier system.
Rutka said incorporating the private sector into neurosurgery wouldn’t work, though it might for other areas of medicine.
“You couldn’t set up a private clinic with a building that would have everything that a neurosurgeon needs to do neurosurgery without investing millions and millions of dollars, and for a relatively small number of patients who would benefit in a private clinic setting from that kind of service,” he said.
“It just would not make any good business sense.”
Rutka said that for other specialties that are less cost-intensive than neurosurgery, it may not be a bad idea to look into privatization. But he also believes in improving the system we already have.
“I’m a firm believer and very proud of the Canadian healthcare system,” he said.
“On balance, it’s a wonderful system that we have in place here. It can be better, and we slipped behind on losing patients to the United States with these transfers because our system became full. But it’s a correctable problem.”
The expert panel will be meeting again within a week.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
This week's issue of The Reporter: more on Glen Pearson, our favorite firefighting, money-raising politician!
Well hello, loyal readers. If you read my story about Glen Pearson about a month ago, my contribution to this week's edition of 'The Reporter' is a follow-up story on an issue that came up in my original interview with him. I was still waiting on some information from CIDA, which didn't arrive by the time we printed our issue, so if I find out any new updates I'll post them here.
Lots of other interesting stories this week--take a look!
http://www.fims.uwo.ca/olr
Money promised to Darfur refugees still in limbo
MP Glen Pearson says Sudan was told aid had been approved
By Meghan Moloney
When London MP Glen Pearson was in Sudan with other aid workers in January, he discovered that the government of Canada had told a group of refugees in Darfur they may be getting $3 million in aid by March.
Yet Canadians haven't been given any information about the deal.
Canadian International Development Agency officials had contacted Sudanese leaders as early as a year ago to discuss the funds, but the government has made no public announcement about any money going to Sudan.
Pearson had been lobbying the government for money to help these refugees since the first time he made a speech in the House of Commons last February.
He "just about broke down" when he found out about the aid money, he said.
"I felt a huge sense of relief," he said. But he was also disappointed. He would have been happier if the government had indicated that it was following up on his call for action.
"I had a terrible first year in Parliament," he said. "I felt I wasn't making a difference."
An active human rights and development worker in Sudan for more than a decade, Pearson was elected MP for London North Centre in November 2006. Before beginning his duties in Parliament, he and his wife, fellow activist Jane Roy, made their annual trip to Sudan with their NGO, Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan, and a group of London-based volunteers in January 2007.
During that trip, they met a traveler coming from the northern region of Darfur who told them there were 100,000 new refugees trying to escape the violence in the area.
Pearson and his team investigated the situation, along with the International Organization for Migration.
"It was desperate," said Pearson. "In fact it was awful. There was no water, no food, no clothing."
The refugees were people who had migrated from southern Sudan to Darfur around 20 years ago to escape the violence of the civil war, said Pearson. But because of the current conflict in Darfur, they are once again trying to find a home.
Before returning to Canada, Pearson met with regional leaders working with the IOM and asked them to draw up a budget to help the new refugees. They asked for $6 million. Pearson presented the budget in the House of Commons in February 2007.
"I was listened to very respectfully," he said,. But there was no response from the government.
"I wore that (weight) all year-I felt sick about it," said Pearson.
But when he returned to Sudan three weeks ago, he found a different story. According to IOM officials, the Canadian government had contacted the organization to say that it was aware of the problem but asked the IOM to cut the budget to $3 million.
After Pearson returned to Canada for the new Parliamentary session, the IOM officials told Roy, who was still in Sudan, that they had been contacted by CIDA and had been told the new budget had been approved. The grant was conditional on sufficient funds being left over at the end of the current fiscal year, but Pearson said he's confident there will be enough and that the money will be transferred by March.
There has been no official confirmation from CIDA or other government departments about the money for Sudan. Pearson is not aware which officials had been communicating with the IOM. When contacted, a CIDA representative said the department was preparing to announce its plans for Sudan as well as other areas in need of aid, but she couldn't put a timeline on it
Pearson doesn't think the money is tied to the success of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's budget, scheduled for early March. Although he appreciates that the government is acting on his request, he's still unsure why the Conservatives waited so long to mention the transfer of money to Darfur and why officials in Sudan were notified before Canadians, he said.
"If I wanted to be partisan, I could (ask) why didn't they tell anyone until now," Pearson said. But he could understand why the government wouldn't raise false hopes before confirming any aid. "If I want to be realistic, I would say why would they tell anyone they were going to give the money before it was guaranteed."
However, Pearson said it would have been helpful if the Conservatives had made it clear that they were following up on his request.
"We need to work on communication," he said. "We're talking about money to keep people alive."
Lots of other interesting stories this week--take a look!
http://www.fims.uwo.ca/olr
Money promised to Darfur refugees still in limbo
MP Glen Pearson says Sudan was told aid had been approved
By Meghan Moloney
When London MP Glen Pearson was in Sudan with other aid workers in January, he discovered that the government of Canada had told a group of refugees in Darfur they may be getting $3 million in aid by March.
Yet Canadians haven't been given any information about the deal.
Canadian International Development Agency officials had contacted Sudanese leaders as early as a year ago to discuss the funds, but the government has made no public announcement about any money going to Sudan.
Pearson had been lobbying the government for money to help these refugees since the first time he made a speech in the House of Commons last February.
He "just about broke down" when he found out about the aid money, he said.
"I felt a huge sense of relief," he said. But he was also disappointed. He would have been happier if the government had indicated that it was following up on his call for action.
"I had a terrible first year in Parliament," he said. "I felt I wasn't making a difference."
An active human rights and development worker in Sudan for more than a decade, Pearson was elected MP for London North Centre in November 2006. Before beginning his duties in Parliament, he and his wife, fellow activist Jane Roy, made their annual trip to Sudan with their NGO, Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan, and a group of London-based volunteers in January 2007.
During that trip, they met a traveler coming from the northern region of Darfur who told them there were 100,000 new refugees trying to escape the violence in the area.
Pearson and his team investigated the situation, along with the International Organization for Migration.
"It was desperate," said Pearson. "In fact it was awful. There was no water, no food, no clothing."
The refugees were people who had migrated from southern Sudan to Darfur around 20 years ago to escape the violence of the civil war, said Pearson. But because of the current conflict in Darfur, they are once again trying to find a home.
Before returning to Canada, Pearson met with regional leaders working with the IOM and asked them to draw up a budget to help the new refugees. They asked for $6 million. Pearson presented the budget in the House of Commons in February 2007.
"I was listened to very respectfully," he said,. But there was no response from the government.
"I wore that (weight) all year-I felt sick about it," said Pearson.
But when he returned to Sudan three weeks ago, he found a different story. According to IOM officials, the Canadian government had contacted the organization to say that it was aware of the problem but asked the IOM to cut the budget to $3 million.
After Pearson returned to Canada for the new Parliamentary session, the IOM officials told Roy, who was still in Sudan, that they had been contacted by CIDA and had been told the new budget had been approved. The grant was conditional on sufficient funds being left over at the end of the current fiscal year, but Pearson said he's confident there will be enough and that the money will be transferred by March.
There has been no official confirmation from CIDA or other government departments about the money for Sudan. Pearson is not aware which officials had been communicating with the IOM. When contacted, a CIDA representative said the department was preparing to announce its plans for Sudan as well as other areas in need of aid, but she couldn't put a timeline on it
Pearson doesn't think the money is tied to the success of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's budget, scheduled for early March. Although he appreciates that the government is acting on his request, he's still unsure why the Conservatives waited so long to mention the transfer of money to Darfur and why officials in Sudan were notified before Canadians, he said.
"If I wanted to be partisan, I could (ask) why didn't they tell anyone until now," Pearson said. But he could understand why the government wouldn't raise false hopes before confirming any aid. "If I want to be realistic, I would say why would they tell anyone they were going to give the money before it was guaranteed."
However, Pearson said it would have been helpful if the Conservatives had made it clear that they were following up on his request.
"We need to work on communication," he said. "We're talking about money to keep people alive."
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Snowfest this year draws 20 sculptors to market
THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
By Meghan Moloney, Special to Sun Media
The courtyard at Covent Garden Market will be transformed into a glittering wonderland this weekend for Snowfest 2008.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Ted Hayes, the event organizer and a sculptor with Frozen Impact in St. Thomas.
"It started dwindling last year with only four or five teams, but this year there will be over 20 sculptures," said Hayes, 51, who has co-ordinated Snowfest for 12 years.
This year's theme is "a magical crystal garden."
The admission-free event kicks off tomorrow as Hayes and his brother, Tyler, 41, begin creating the garden on a platform in front of the market.
The first competition will be Saturday, with 11 professional artists registered to make carvings based on the theme.
Sunday, carvers can create any piece they want for that day's contest.
Peter Lam, a London artist who has won first prize in the People's Choice competition several times, said he's excited about the event.
"This year I'm going to be carving a couple of rats," said Lam, who annually creates an animal corresponding to the current Chinese year.
"I'm looking forward to it."
The competitions are judged by the public.
While unpredictable weather has been an issue in the past, Environment Canada is predicting snow and a high of 1 Saturday and -5 Sunday.
And, Hayes said, the event no longer uses snow, partly because of weather worries but also because of the cost of transporting the snow.
This year, artists will each get two 136-kilogram blocks of ice with which to work.
Hayes said it's important to offer Londoners free events in the winter.
"This is the only thing -- you have to pay to go to everything else," he said. "You can bring your skates and have some lunch. There are going to be some beautiful things here."
IF YOU GO
- What: Snowfest 2008, an international ice carving competition.
- When: Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Where: Covent Garden Market.
- Admission: Free.
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
By Meghan Moloney, Special to Sun Media
The courtyard at Covent Garden Market will be transformed into a glittering wonderland this weekend for Snowfest 2008.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Ted Hayes, the event organizer and a sculptor with Frozen Impact in St. Thomas.
"It started dwindling last year with only four or five teams, but this year there will be over 20 sculptures," said Hayes, 51, who has co-ordinated Snowfest for 12 years.
This year's theme is "a magical crystal garden."
The admission-free event kicks off tomorrow as Hayes and his brother, Tyler, 41, begin creating the garden on a platform in front of the market.
The first competition will be Saturday, with 11 professional artists registered to make carvings based on the theme.
Sunday, carvers can create any piece they want for that day's contest.
Peter Lam, a London artist who has won first prize in the People's Choice competition several times, said he's excited about the event.
"This year I'm going to be carving a couple of rats," said Lam, who annually creates an animal corresponding to the current Chinese year.
"I'm looking forward to it."
The competitions are judged by the public.
While unpredictable weather has been an issue in the past, Environment Canada is predicting snow and a high of 1 Saturday and -5 Sunday.
And, Hayes said, the event no longer uses snow, partly because of weather worries but also because of the cost of transporting the snow.
This year, artists will each get two 136-kilogram blocks of ice with which to work.
Hayes said it's important to offer Londoners free events in the winter.
"This is the only thing -- you have to pay to go to everything else," he said. "You can bring your skates and have some lunch. There are going to be some beautiful things here."
IF YOU GO
- What: Snowfest 2008, an international ice carving competition.
- When: Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Where: Covent Garden Market.
- Admission: Free.
Report Reveals Daily Violence
My very first front-page byline!
*****
THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
A study of sexual harassment, aggression and bullying at schools shows 'cause for concern.'
By MEGHAN MOLONEY, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS
Sexual harassment, verbal aggression and bullying occur daily in Ontario high schools, but get less attention than more "dramatic" issues such as weapons, says the author of a report that surveyed more than 1,800 Southwestern Ontario students.
David Wolfe, principal investigator for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, released the report yesterday. It examines violence, sexual harassment and bullying at 23 schools.
"The cause for concern is that this is everyday violence and it doesn't get the same attention as more dramatic violence like kids carrying guns," Wolfe said. "But we do have to worry about it. We don't want kids to think it's OK to bully and harass others."
Wolfe, an honorary psychology professor at UWO, headed the research, conducted between 2003 and 2007. The study surveyed 1,819 students in Grades 9 and 11 in rural and city schools. Wolfe declined to say precisely where the surveys were conducted.
The study found:
- 29 per cent of Grade 9 girls and 33 per cent of Grade 9 boys reported feeling unsafe at school;
- 16 per cent of girls and 32 per cent of boys reported being physically harmed;
- 10 per cent of girls and 25 per cent of boys admitted they had harmed others;
- 12 per cent of boys and 14 per cent of girls reported being harassed online.
"Part of the reason we wanted to present this was because the only data that's been out there lately is from Toronto schools, which paints a pretty bad picture, and we wanted to indicate the picture can be similarly bad in other parts of the province," Wolfe said.
The important aspect of the research is change over time, Wolfe said. Results indicated Grade 9 students who experience violence are more than twice as likely to be harassed in Grade 11.
"We're looking at the pattern across time and that's a bit alarming," Wolfe said. "When you can predict by a factor of two or three times that someone will have a problem, that's significant."
The research showed students as young as Grade 9 are reporting suicidal thoughts.
"They're not happy and this is not innocuous," Wolfe said.
Grade 9 is a tough year for students, many of them being harassed by older students, he said. Some boys deal with the problem by harassing others.
Girls are more likely to spread rumours and use verbal insults as aggression, but Wolfe said name-calling can have similar consequences to physical violence.
"It's not just about a fear of safety, but a fear of emotional humiliation."
Researchers asked about students sexually pressuring or being sexually pressured by other students:
- Four per cent of Grade 11 males admitted they've tried to force someone to have sex with them;
- 10 per cent of males and 27 per cent of females were pressured into sexual acts they did not want to do;
- 15 per cent of girls said they had oral sex to avoid having intercourse;
- Girls were more likely to experience unwanted sexual comments, looks and touching, whereas boys were more likely to experience homo-phobic insults.
The study comes as Mike and Brenda Neuts mark the 10th anniversary of their son's being found hanging unconscious on a washroom stall door hook in Chatham-Kent. Ten-year-old Myles died six days later. His family continues to make anti-bullying presentations to school children and other groups. (A story is on Page C4).
Wolfe said schools have begun to add more education on healthy relationships and discrimination. He said parents and communities need to deal with harassment as well as students and schools.
"This is everyone's issue."
"The purpose of releasing this study is not just to scare people. The positive message here is we're starting to teach people that kids shouldn't have to put up with this, no more than (adults) should."
*****
THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
A study of sexual harassment, aggression and bullying at schools shows 'cause for concern.'
By MEGHAN MOLONEY, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS
Sexual harassment, verbal aggression and bullying occur daily in Ontario high schools, but get less attention than more "dramatic" issues such as weapons, says the author of a report that surveyed more than 1,800 Southwestern Ontario students.
David Wolfe, principal investigator for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, released the report yesterday. It examines violence, sexual harassment and bullying at 23 schools.
"The cause for concern is that this is everyday violence and it doesn't get the same attention as more dramatic violence like kids carrying guns," Wolfe said. "But we do have to worry about it. We don't want kids to think it's OK to bully and harass others."
Wolfe, an honorary psychology professor at UWO, headed the research, conducted between 2003 and 2007. The study surveyed 1,819 students in Grades 9 and 11 in rural and city schools. Wolfe declined to say precisely where the surveys were conducted.
The study found:
- 29 per cent of Grade 9 girls and 33 per cent of Grade 9 boys reported feeling unsafe at school;
- 16 per cent of girls and 32 per cent of boys reported being physically harmed;
- 10 per cent of girls and 25 per cent of boys admitted they had harmed others;
- 12 per cent of boys and 14 per cent of girls reported being harassed online.
"Part of the reason we wanted to present this was because the only data that's been out there lately is from Toronto schools, which paints a pretty bad picture, and we wanted to indicate the picture can be similarly bad in other parts of the province," Wolfe said.
The important aspect of the research is change over time, Wolfe said. Results indicated Grade 9 students who experience violence are more than twice as likely to be harassed in Grade 11.
"We're looking at the pattern across time and that's a bit alarming," Wolfe said. "When you can predict by a factor of two or three times that someone will have a problem, that's significant."
The research showed students as young as Grade 9 are reporting suicidal thoughts.
"They're not happy and this is not innocuous," Wolfe said.
Grade 9 is a tough year for students, many of them being harassed by older students, he said. Some boys deal with the problem by harassing others.
Girls are more likely to spread rumours and use verbal insults as aggression, but Wolfe said name-calling can have similar consequences to physical violence.
"It's not just about a fear of safety, but a fear of emotional humiliation."
Researchers asked about students sexually pressuring or being sexually pressured by other students:
- Four per cent of Grade 11 males admitted they've tried to force someone to have sex with them;
- 10 per cent of males and 27 per cent of females were pressured into sexual acts they did not want to do;
- 15 per cent of girls said they had oral sex to avoid having intercourse;
- Girls were more likely to experience unwanted sexual comments, looks and touching, whereas boys were more likely to experience homo-phobic insults.
The study comes as Mike and Brenda Neuts mark the 10th anniversary of their son's being found hanging unconscious on a washroom stall door hook in Chatham-Kent. Ten-year-old Myles died six days later. His family continues to make anti-bullying presentations to school children and other groups. (A story is on Page C4).
Wolfe said schools have begun to add more education on healthy relationships and discrimination. He said parents and communities need to deal with harassment as well as students and schools.
"This is everyone's issue."
"The purpose of releasing this study is not just to scare people. The positive message here is we're starting to teach people that kids shouldn't have to put up with this, no more than (adults) should."
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
First edition of the 2008 Reporter!
www.fims.uwo.ca/olr
My story is in the "what's new" section, "A second chance for suspended students."
Two stories in tomorrow's London city paper--one is apparently going front page!! Will post tomorrow.
My story is in the "what's new" section, "A second chance for suspended students."
Two stories in tomorrow's London city paper--one is apparently going front page!! Will post tomorrow.
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