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Former Newmarket-Aurora MP Belinda Stronadl went to a California clinic i Long waits for MRIs and other di ostics, poor access to doctors an unacceptable delays for some surgeries are wonisome, the 2009 report ofthe council. set up by the province to monitor the state of All these realities are worrisome, according to the 2009 report of the Ontario Health Quality Council, set up by the province to monitor the state of health care. For others, it is long waits for MRIs and other diagnostics, poor access to doctors and unacceptable delays for some surgeries that drive them across the border. - Since then, she has raised more than $1 million for the Belinda Stro- nach chair in breast cancer recon- structive surgery at the University of Toronto, so Canadian women will have access to nipple-saving surgery. “When you’re faced with those pretty difficult decisions, you make the choices that you feel are best for you at that time. I'm not apologizing for it I don’t view it as a cosmetic surgery. I think it’s part of the healing process.” “... I wanted to preserve my nipple and that wasn't, at the time, an option that I was given here,” she later told Canadian Press. Following her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2007, Ms Stronach had a mastectomy in Toronto and then was referred by her physician to a Califor- nia clinic. a private system down in the States. And that further erodes the public ‘Pgople mu ha able to net system here." Ms Stronach, an Aurora resident, the light can at the right time crossed the border for reconsn'uctive - - surgery not to jump a wait list, but I" ma because the procedure wasn't avail- [mm the fight wonder: able in Canada. Ms Holmes, who spent $95,000 on brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, became a darling of the US. conservative movement when she agreed to be the face of American TV ads against President Barack Obama's health care plan last spring. Ms Holmes’ comments that Cana- dian-style health care failed her set ofl' a firestorm north of the border. That’s partly because crossing the border for health care has. for decades, been taboo. He would have had tovwéit four months for an MRI and three months more to see a specialist if he had not gone south, he added. Last month, Mr. McCreith lost his appeal to have OHIP repay the $27,600 US he spent in Buffalo in 2006 on brain cancer surgery. Mr. McCreith and Ms Hol- mes believe their rights to care were breached. “People should be able to get the right care at the right time in the right setting from the right provider," the report stated. There has been some progress, the council said, but the Ontario health system is not meeting all needs. “n-__l_ -L _, I l I health care, states But as waiting lists swelled and Ontario Health Quality Council, 2009 report Critics say Ontario should fix the system here and use the outâ€"ofâ€"coun- try approvals system exclusively for the reason itwassetupâ€"-â€"tobea “safety net, allowing access to new, pmven procedures, and help fill gaps in provincial medical services”, a 2007 review of OHIP's out-of-country pro- cedures stated. More than 50 per cent of respon- dents indicated concerns about wait times for treatment, a shortage of medical professionals or lack of govâ€" ernment resources, according to a Nanos Research poll last month. Nationwide opinion polls con- sistently show high levels of overall satisfaction with Canada's universal health care. Still, researchers are also finding disquiet over some of the system’s vulnerable areas. “That (private health care) would be not a solution at all but, in fact, the dismantling of our public health care system." She was referring to the ongoing debate in the US. over how to pro- vide health care, in which Ms Holmes figured, and companies pushing for the right to offer Ontarians health care in a payâ€"for-service, private par- allel system. Natalie Mehra, a director of the Ontario Health Coalition, a public interest health care group, said she hopes the government's response will be to rebqu access to hospital ser- vices in the public system here. If the growth in out-of-country care continues, “I fear it will simply serve as fodder for the American media and the privateers in Canada," Ms Mehra said. access began to lag. out-of-country travel for care became more com- mo_n_,Dptario figures show. We want to hear from y E-moil your comments to Jim Mason at imoson@yrmg.com More coverage Go to yorkregion.com to read the latest developments on this story as well about others in Ontario in the same boat. D Critical: It’s a 24â€"hour, publicly fund- ed emergency refenal service for hospital- based Ontario physicians. lt finds spots across the province for patients in need of critical care,last year handing 15,319 cases.About 400 of those went to the US. for cardiac, neurosurgery and other kinds of critical cafe. b WSIB: Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Ontario’s public worker compensa- tion system, approved about 100 claims for out-ofâ€"country hospital and physi- cian services in 2008 for just more than $900,000. Ontario has two major agencies that sometimes send Ontarians south of the border for (are. b What it costs: Monthly premiums for wait time insurance range from $100 to $200 a month. b How it Wis: Typically, benefits kick inwhenacovered person is on a wait list for more than 45 days. Coverage includes costs for diagnostic tests and treatment for hundreds of medical conditions. (over- age is subject to terms and conditions of the particular policy. b What it is: A privately obtained insur- ance allowing Canadians who have excesâ€" sively long waits for procedures to obtain services at ptivate U.S. clinics. WAIT TIME INSURANCE OTHERS 60 SOUTH