Former surgeon and health system leader. Current grandpa. Advocate for universal, sustainable and excellent care that will be there for our grandchildren.
Toronto, Ontario
Joined December 2018
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I am delighted that "Jonah K." is now live to order at amazon.ca/Jonah-K-Dr-Bob-Bel…
All proceeds from book sales to Indigenous Health Program @uhnfoundation
Book launch announcement to follow soon.
Important article on terrible risks of community surgery centres that are not subject to hospital not-for-profit quality programs.
Surgery needs unbiased quality oversight.
For profit centres can't provide unbiased quality assessment.
Ontario beware.
nytimes.com/2023/07/15/healt…
Thx for your leadership @kwame_mckenzie
Ontario first Black Health Plan is out! Health equity for the population which helped build the province and were essential workers through covid-19 is overdue. Honoured to co-chair the plan and kudos to OH and the community of people who built the plan. ontariohealth.ca/about-us/ou…
To keep them working in the public system, Canadian nurses need better support and working conditions.
Important article.
Nurses have profoundly lost trust in health care leadership theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…
Important commentary from Keith Ambachtsheer.
A sustainable 🇨🇦 health system requires that seniors have sufficient income.
This article describes how that can happen.
theglobeandmail.com/business…
TY @johnmalcolm18
Your view certainly agrees with the surgery literature which demonstrates faster throughput in community operating rooms versus in-hospital ORs.
To be clear, community ORs should still be managed not-for-profit- ideally by a hospital.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article…
👏👏👏
Groundbreaking pilot project for health professions discipline tribunals. Started by @cpso_ca and now expanding to other healthcare regulators in Ontario. Separation of regulatory colleges that prosecute disciplinary charges from the tribunals that adjudicate them is key.
Two immediate fixes to shorten surgery wait lists:
1) e-referral and common triage surgery referrals;
2) move surgery out of hospitals to not-for-profit community surgery centres.
Adopting these two measures would shorten waits by 30%.
For everyone.
People who think the average Canadian can pay thirty thousand $$s for cancer surgery are either out of touch or out of compassion.
Important article by @egpayne regarding inter-provincial for-profit surgery.
@jyduclos should examine this loophole in the Canada Health Act.
ottawacitizen.com/news/local…
Excellent review of seniors care in Oz & useful comparisons to 🇨🇦 from @NIAgeing & @DrSamirSinha team.
Occupancy in 🇦🇺 LTC is only 85%. More seniors are institutionalized than in 🇨🇦- but ALC rates in acute care are lower in 🇦🇺.
Well worth a read.
static1.squarespace.com/stat…
Bob Bell retweeted
I’m trying to be unbiased, plan is to try to attract private money to increase access. But “Gone is the requirement that clinics be inspected by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. No new inspecting authority is identified.” I think that’s a risk.
Bob Bell retweeted
BC got it right, its Court of Appeal got it right & now the Supreme of Canada got it right. Canadians want universal #healthcare. If any government violates the #CanadaHealthAct, a class action law suit by a team of lawyers from every political stripe is necessary. plsrt!l
Finally some clarity on the issue of private healthcare from our highest court. Now it is time for the politicians to follow suit. BC is leading the way. Ontario better reconsider its approach. @jyduclos @JustinTrudeau @fordnation
cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c…
With respect there are plenty of ON examples of not-for-profit community surgical centres doing many more cases. Kensington Eye Centre is great example, London's HULC, TOH Riverside. Community surgery works best with not-for-profit leadership- and that can come from a hospital.
🇨🇦 needs to move surgeries to community centres- shown safe & ⬆️es patient volumes by 25-30%.
NFP surgery centre goal is: ⬆️ quality & ⬇️ cost.
For-profit surgery centre goal is: ⬆️ profit.
Why pay more to FP centres when we can have NFP centres?
thestar.com/opinion/contribu…
Agree that about 50% of surgery needs to move out of hospitals into community @RSaplys - with Orthopaedics leading the way.
But these community centres should be not-for-profit. Otherwise both taxpayers and patients will lose.
Bob Bell retweeted
@fordnation is willing to give Herzig- one of his reliable donors- our money, with a 🍒 on top. Private healthcare is not more efficient, it is just MORE.
#BetterMedicare #onpoli
Important concerns raised in this article.
Especially since the contracts awarded to for-profit cataract centres pay the Herzig Clinic about 20% more per case than ON hospitals.
Tax payers inevitably pay more in for-profit surgery centres.
thestar.com/opinion/contribu…
Important concerns raised in this article.
Especially since the contracts awarded to for-profit cataract centres pay the Herzig Clinic about 20% more per case than ON hospitals.
Tax payers inevitably pay more in for-profit surgery centres.
thestar.com/opinion/contribu…