[merrylander]

It occurs to me that I am now less than a year away from Dad's age when he died and it was all so unnecessary. This was before Single Payer in Canada and the health care system was about as bad as here. Hospitals were cutting corners and hiring staff from third world places.

Dad was in for prostate surgery and in a semi-private room. My brother and I stopped by to see how he was doing and found him fevered and delerious. I demanded to see the on-duty intern and told him I wanted a privste room and full time nurse. Trying to get any sign of intelligence out of the staff was like pulling teeth.

My Mom went in to see him the next day, she called and said if I wanted to see him alive I had better get in there. Now the police are never there when you want one, I broke every damn speed limit on the way in, an escort would have helped.

Dad's heart was excellent, his sixty year old family doctor claimed it was in better shape than his. A blood clot had come loose and blocked a pulmonary artery. His heart blew that away and he was resting when it struck again and this time for good. No doctor had the foresight after the first blockage to gve him Heparin.

Believe me, Single Payer saw the biggest turn around in the quality of healthcare we had ever seen - all for the better.

In case you wonder why I support it.