You know what yanks my Cord…

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โ€ฆthose wonderful individuals who are routinely complaining about health care wait times.

We all have heard the personal stories about how in America you can get an MRI in twenty minutes, but in Canada, it can take months. All you need is the right insurance and you can wave the long waiting lines suffered by those poor souls in the great white north goodbye.

What I am paradoxically complaining about are people who whine about their wait times, while ducking a debate over the pros and cons of the American and Canadian health care systems.

Let me tell you how it all started. Surfing the newsfeed of Facebook, I came upon a status where a friend of mine was loudly and boisterously stating their disapproval of having to wait for someone to look at their sore throat in the emergency room.

As you might expect, I was completely โ€œappalled.โ€ How dare our doctors prioritize someone who had just suffered a heart attack over your sore throat!

Now I am not an economist who can speak to Canadaโ€™s health care system and how it impacts the nation financially. What I can say is that the Canadian health care system is pretty decent for what it provides. Although in Canada we are conditioned to criticize and grumble about everything from the snow on the sidewalk to the traffic on the QEW.

If I need to see a family doctor, I can call and usually get an appointment on the same day. I can also go to a walk-in clinic and, although emergency wait rooms are busier than most, if I am need of immediate care I know I will be seen on a prioritized basis. Sure, you can go to the United States for treatment if you wish, but in the case of the lower income citizen, this is not an option.

Our system isnโ€™t perfect, but there isnโ€™t any system in the world that is. Should we be grateful that our government saves us thousands of dollars in medical care fees? I think so. But if you choose to complain keep it off Facebook.


Serving the Waterloo campus, The Cord seeks to provide students with relevant, up to date stories. Weโ€™re always interested in having more volunteer writers, photographers and graphic designers.