It seems we’ve got some explaining to do. Our editorial cartoon last week raised the ire of more than one reader (read letters in this section).
In the cartoon we depicted Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s CEO Natalie Bubela as a destitute woman begging for spare change in front of the hospital, ostensibly for equipment.
 It was not, as some thought, a dig at Bubela whose work we applaud and admire.
It was, rather, outrage that the CEO of our hospitals should be put in the position of having to scrounge for adequate funding. Many are unaware that capital costs, for things like equipment, are not supplied by the province. The money for these necessary items comes from the important work of foundations and fundraisers and by the ingenuity of people like Bubela.
And now, as we reported last week, the formula for operating costs is changing in ways that give Bubela concern for our hospitals in the long run.
It’s a disgrace.
Canadians have been clear to our governments that health care is not a request, it is a demand. We pay high taxes in our country and in large part we’re at peace with it because we cherish our universal health care. It’s a core belief for us that everyone in our country, regardless of their wealth, is entitled to top of the line health care.
In the U.S. a stay in hospital bankrupts middle class people every day. In some cases they do lose their homes and wind up on the streets.
That’s not what we expect in Canada; it’s not what we expect in Muskoka. We pay our taxes. We expect our hospitals to get adequate funding.
PS