I certainly don't agree with the isolated perception that we would save more money by reducing the number of districts when our own Tin Pot Dictators are incompetent and cover their assets by continuously shifting the blame to either other people or to inadequate organizational settings. Before we reorganize our health care settings and change the number of districts, it is imperative that we must rewire the minds of our Tin Pot Dictators. I agree with Mr. Lindberg that our health care is mismanaged, however the root of the problem is not in finding the right number of districts, and it is not in my recently expressed perception that the problem is in the misspending of our health care dollars(2).

The problem of health care is rooted in the obsolete mind set of our politicians and health care leaders. When we go shopping as individual consumers we are welcome by the businesses with the slogan "satisfaction guaranteed". But what about health care? No, we don't have the right to "satisfaction guaranteed", we have the regressive right to express our complaints to "the health care complaints department." The pursuing of the health care "satisfaction guaranteed" is relegated to our health researchers who use their MEANS to satisfy the ENDS set up by our politicians and health care leaders(3). The result is that many health specialists leave the province(4) and the sold out researchers continue to stay and support the ENDS of our politicians and health care leaders. And you know how our leadership covers up their misdeeds? They say, 'management is our job and you health care workers shut up and do your work in accordance to the collective agreement.' And if you don't have the protection of a collective agreement, then watch out, our leaders have the power to fire people and they do it, without mercy, and myself and all of my family know it.

I am happy today to read that our common people are speaking out beyond their "collective agreement" and are beginning to question our Tin Pot Dictators. Today's (October 20, 2000) StarPhoenix reports that a $7.5 million computer system purchased for Royal University Hospital (RUH) 11 months ago still doesn't work(5). Barbara Abel, president of the local SUN union, says "People are very frustrated. Money is being wasted that should be going toward patient care. We don't have enough front-line workers, yet we can throw money away on computer equipment that doesn't work. They've become coat hangers and dust collectors. It's such a waste of time and money. Nobody is accountable."

Congratulations to Barber Abel for speaking out and highlight the root of the problem in health care in very simple terms "Nobody is accountable." And that is the truth, nobody is accountable, including Steve Hardcastle, vice president of the Saskatoon District Health. I remember some two years ago when Hardcastle stated that his district was facing a $30 million bill to prepare for the Y2K nightmare. At that time Hardcastle stated "If an appropriate level of funding was in place to deal with this issue over the past few years, (Y2K) wouldn't have had such a large financial impact in the last year or year and a half(6) " Therefore, Hardcastle made the hard decision to immediately cope with the Y2K problem by buying $7.5 million computer supplies from American companies. And this $7.5 million blunder is just the tip of the iceberg(7), and where is Mr. Hardcastle now? He is covering his asset by shifting the blame of this disaster of his own making to Quadramed, an American company which doesn't want to do business in Canada anymore. Says neuroscience ward nurse Dennis Dombowsky "We're upset. It takes time away from our patients. We've got millions of dollars of computers sitting there, and they are not even turned on."

Democracy is not voting or belonging to a party, democracy starts with us as common individuals, by being socially accountable for our own and other people's well-being. Therefore, we praise both Barber Abel and Dennis Dombowsky for letting us know again that there is a lack of democracy and that "nobody is accountable" in health care.

References/Endnotes

Articles by Mario deSantis

1. Too many health districts, managers, by Warren Lindberg, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 11, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. Gov't health spending root of problem, by Mario deSantis, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 17, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

3. Our biased researches are only a symptom of our authorities' corruption: the only remedies are assertion of individual rights and judicial independence, by Mario deSantis, September 27, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000_200/desantis232/biasedresearch.html

4. The Mismanagement Saga in Health Care, by Mario deSantis, October 17, 2000

5. Hospital's $7.5-million computers unusable: Terminals clutter nurses' stations as staff wait for software, by Jason Warick, October 20, 2000, The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

6. The culprit of the Y2K Nightmare in Health Care is plain Corruption! By Mario deSantis, January 20, 1999 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantis23/paperY2K-Jan18-99.htm

7. Saskatchewan Health Care: Confirmation Of The Most Mismanaged System In Canada, by Mario deSantis, October 12, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000_200/desantis238/healthcaremismangement.html