Winnipeg doctor’s letter exposes the truth

A letter arrived in my inbox recently from a Winnipeg physician. Dr. Lynn Stevens has practiced medicine in our city for 33 years. Her message was not political. It was personal. And it should concern every Manitoban.

Dr. Stevens wrote to the provincial government about what happened when she needed medical care herself.

Years ago, she developed pain in both hips during an exercise program. She needed an MRI. The wait time in Manitoba was two years. Instead, she flew to Calgary and paid for a private scan. The result showed torn muscles, allowing her to adjust her training and recover.

More recently she suffered a herniated disc in her spine. Severe pain, nerve damage and loss of function forced her into emergency surgery. Even then, the surgeon told her she should have come in sooner to prevent permanent damage.

Then the same pain returned.

She went to the emergency department and waited for hours. At one point she was told some patients had been waiting more than 14 hours. She left without being treated.

Dr. Stevens eventually asked for a copy of her MRI requisition so she could pay for a private scan. She says she was told government systems would not even read results from a private clinic.

Think about that for a moment. A physician with more than three decades in medicine could not access timely care in her own city.

This is not an isolated story. It is a warning.

The truth many politicians avoid is this: the health-care system we grew up believing in no longer exists. What we have today is struggling under pressure from aging demographics, staff shortages and rising costs.

And yet the political conversation refuses to move.

Instead, we cling to the idea that our system is the envy of the world. That it is free for all and working well.

But Canadians pay among the highest taxes in the developed world while facing some of the longest wait times for specialists and elective procedures among comparable countries. Studies comparing Canada with countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Australia have consistently found Canadians reporting longer waits for appointments and surgery.

Those countries did something Canada has largely refused to consider.

They built mixed systems.

Australia operates a universal public system but also allows private insurance and private hospitals to complement it. Roughly half of Australians purchase private coverage to access additional services and reduce wait times while the public system remains available to everyone.

France is another example. It maintains universal coverage while allowing patients to choose between public and private providers, giving people more options and helping avoid chronic wait lists.

Japan provides universal coverage as well, but care is delivered through both public hospitals and private clinics. Access to diagnostic tests such as MRIs is common and often does not involve lengthy waits.

In fact, most developed nations operate mixed systems in which public and private providers work side by side.

This should not be controversial. It should be common sense.

Looking at alternatives does not mean abandoning universal care. It means strengthening it.

If private clinics can perform diagnostic imaging, surgeries or specialized procedures under regulation, that reduces pressure on public hospitals. It shortens wait lists. It allows the public system to focus resources where they are most needed.

But politicians rarely say this out loud.

Why? Because health care has become a political symbol rather than a policy challenge. Any discussion of alternatives is immediately framed as an attack on universal care.

That shuts down honest debate.

Meanwhile the system continues to deteriorate.

Emergency rooms overflow. Doctors burn out. Patients wait months or years for tests that determine whether they can work, walk or live without pain.

Dr. Stevens’ experience illustrates the reality. A physician who has spent her career caring for others could not get timely diagnostic imaging in the system she helped serve.

We need to be honest with ourselves.

Health care as we know it is done. The current model is unsustainable. It is being managed like any other government department, with layers of bureaucracy, rising costs at the top and not enough focus on the patient.

Pretending otherwise will not fix it.

Investigating alternatives is not dangerous. Refusing to investigate them is.

If countries around the world can maintain universal coverage while allowing responsible private options, there is no reason Canada cannot examine the same approach.

The real question is simple.

How many more Manitobans must sit in pain in a waiting room before our leaders are willing to have that conversation?