I'm a sucker for those stories.

All I think is the DMV being in charge of healthcare. I'm sure there will still be nurses who care, but a gov't office is a bureaucracy.
And good nurses won't play bureaucratic games so they won't rise very far very fast.
The people who will rise are the gubmint workers.
They have boxes to check, that's all they care about.

Thanks for the link. It was exactly the nightmare described in my post. The hospital in question has developed a very poor rep. I have seen a very high standard of treatment at other hospitals but as the comments from other Canucks both on my blog and others that also linked indicate this type of horror story is all too common. The link at small dead animals had well over 100 comments, it really struck a nerve.

While at the hospital I struck up a friendship with a woman who had also been admitted, a rare blood disorder. She had been advised that our provinces health plan did not cover the cost for the medication she needed. She was informed that the pharmaceutical company had offered to provide the meds free of charge - and then something got snagged in the bureacracy, so no meds. You are powerless, when the system breaks it really shuts down.

I wrote several long posts a month or so ago telling about the bad treatment my Dad and step Mom got in a hospital.

Believe me, it wasn't even CLOSE to what Blazingcatfur described. Yet, the hospital responded to our emailed complaints (with links to the blog posts) by meeting with us. The Chief of Medical Services, the CEO, the Head of Nursing Services, and other staff met with the family and apologized profusely (one of the nurses with tears in her eyes).

Then they proceeded to tell us what they'd done to make sure these kinds of mistakes wouldn't happen again. Then they told us what they planned to do further, but would take time to implement.

I feel like such a whiner now and I am in major awe of the self-control Blazingcatfur exhibited. From the name, I wouldn't expect that.