The Board Chair of the district, Margaret Anderson, has stated that the health district is projecting a $750,000 deficit for next year and that even after the closure of the hospital the district has to scramble to deal with its financial shortfall. Margaret Anderson confirmed that the districts are puppets of the government when she said that "It has taken the board four years to make this decision... If your community can change the funding process in Regina, I wish you well -- we have tried and been told there is no more money."

So this is the reality, The Health Districts Act purports the independence of the districts to make their managerial and financial decisions, yet the districts are puppets of the government. In particular, the process by which the Carrot River Hospital was closed goes against section 37(1)(2) of The Health Districts Act which states that the district health board must have at least two general public meetings in each fiscal year, and at one general public meeting the district must present "an operation and expenditure plan for the next fiscal year(3)." Now, you can realize how both the government and the district broke the law when you consider that health budgets are approved by the government in the same month the related fiscal year expires(4) and that for the last four years the community of Carrot River was told they would have retained the hospital services.

In disgust to the closure of the Carrot River Hospital, Reeve Stan Novogrodski has said "As Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Moose Range No. 486, I have instructed the administrator to take down the tattered and torn Saskatchewan flag at the Municipal Office and not to replace it, as my faith in today's Saskatchewan government is completely gone." Mr. Novogrodski's words are quite harsh and since they reflect the sentiments of the local population we can have an appreciation of the untrustworthy environment in which the North East Health District and the government are operating.

Equally upset for the closure of the hospital was Carrot River Mayor David Stanger. Mayor Stanger said he felt betrayed by the closure after, in concert with the government, he put an enormous amount of time into the planning of an integrated hospital and long-term-care home. He said he blames the government of Saskatchewan for its ongoing polices in health care, and the devious ways they achieve their policies. He stated that "we have been led by the nose through this process, only to be stabbed in the back.

Can we ever trust any of these institutions again?" No we cannot trust this government, this government was privately formed by giving the finger to the electorate(5), and they will continue to give us the finger in the future as long as these kind of flip-flop people(6) are in power. I don't find the closure of the hospital an irresponsible action per se, but I object to the breaking of the law by both the health district and the government. I have also a strong financial objection to the closure of the hospital when the district has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for an obsolete high-tech project like Telehealth.

Telehealth has been a high-tech project for at least four years, and possibly it is going to be an ongoing obsolete project for so many years to come. Therefore, essential money for direct health care which could have provided the retention of the hospital in Carrot River has been going down the toilette as happened for the Saskatchewan Health Information Network(7), Stargarden payroll, the closure of the Plains Health Centre(8) and SAP payroll(9). But the diversion of money from direct health care to Telehealth(10) has provided another anomaly in our local economy when you consider that money has been given away to outside businesses while a superior Internet technology service could have been provided locally at a fraction of the cost(11).

The mismanagement of health resources continues and what is worse is that this mismanagement is not a local rural problem confined with the North East Health District, but this mismanagement is a social textured phenomenon affecting Saskatchewan and all other provinces as well. This social textured phenomenon includes prominent politicians, governments, health associations, fat global businesses, bureaucrats, bean counters and academicians. No, I am not forgetting the powerful lawyers(12), behind the scenes they provide the glue of social injustice which pervades the province, the country and which encourages racism(13), division among people, and a corrupted economic direction for the benefit of the few and privileged(14).

Endnotes

Quote by Donella Meadows "challenging a paradigm is not a part-time job. It is not sufficient to make your point once and then blame the world for not getting it. The world has a vested interest in, a commitment to, not getting it. The point has to be made patiently and repeatedly, day after day after day" ftp://sysdyn.mit.edu/ftp/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4143-1.pdf http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/default.htm

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News

1. Hospital closure permanent, Carrot River 'betrayed', by Ernest Unrau, The Nipawin Journal, March 8, 2000 http://www.bowesnet.com/nipawin/Z01_Story1.html

2. Technology provides health link to Cumberland House, CBC Saskatchewan http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 8 2000 4:37 PM

3. Refer to the Bill "An Act respecting Health Districts", Section 37, Saskatchewan, The Queen's Printer, 1993

4. Minister of Health Pat Atkinson: breaking the law and becoming a magician, by Mario deSantis, March 4, 2000 (Note: the Minister of Health approved 24 districts'budgets for the year 1999-2000 on March 3, 2000)

5. GOVERNMENTAL COALITION IN SASKATCHEWAN: A PRIVATE CONTRACTUAL DEAL AT THE EXPENSE OF THE ELECTORATE? By Mario deSantis, October 2, 1999

6. Premier Roy Romanow flip-flops on Farm Aid and confirms his hypocrisy, by Mario deSantis, February 28, 2000

7. Saskatchewan Health Information Network-SHIN: Ignoring its mandate and diverting money for the Y2K Nightmare, by Mario deSantis, November 3, 1999

8. The closure of the Plains Health Centre: The $50 million overrun and the gimmick of savings money in health care, by Mario deSantis, December 19, 1999

9. Our leaders can't recognize an asset from a hole in the ground, by Mario deSantis, December 2, 1999

10. Technological changes in Saskatchewan health care: an abysmal disaster, by Mario deSantis, May 27, 1999

11. Worldwide Developer's Conference Begins Today, FTLComm - San Jose - May 10, 1999 by: Timothy W. Shire "...Through the wonders of QuickTime 4.0 I was able to attend the Keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose California and listen as interim CEO Steve Jobs and head of software development Avie Trevanian outline Apple's present strategy...". Published in the North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/

12. Letter dated May 7, 1997 from McKercher McKercher & Whitmore and response by Mario deSantis http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-letters-McKercher-deSantis-May97.htm

13. Mayor Dayday's GNP Accounting: writing off our children, dumping people outside city limits, and building the Synchrotron, by Mario deSantis, March 1, 2000

14. First criminal charges laid in job grants investigation, Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, National Post & The Telegram, March 10, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com/