In Brief: Drop in donations linked to uncertainty over the future of Cambridge Memorial Hosital? / More

An editorial in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record suggests Cambridge Memorial Hospital may be experiencing a drop in capital donations from the public due to uncertainty over the hospital’s future. While the editorial acknowledges that donations are down across Canada, they aren’t for the other two nearby hospitals. The hospital has had to recently trim 35 beds to balance its budget, while the LHIN has given a reprieve on 10 rehab beds. The KW Record writes: “The Health Ministry has a responsibility to say whether it wants Cambridge Memorial to be a strong regional hospital or a more modest community hospital. Cambridge residents would certainly prefer the former, but the ministry, so far, seems more inclined to support the latter.” … Smoking bans work. A Canadian Medical Association Journal article claims that in Toronto there was a 39 per cent decrease in admissions for respiratory conditions and a 33 per cent decrease in admissions for cardiovascular issues since 1999, the year the city issued the first phase of its public smoking ban. The biggest decline followed the 2001 ban on smoking in restaurants. … The Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) is downsizing its corporate services based out of Peterborough. VON says no local services will be impacted, although the local intake and planning department will be consolidating to London, Ontario, eliminating 20 local jobs. … Running neck and neck with the Labour Party, the UK Tories are promising a “big society” rather than “big government.” The Brit Tories platform includes putting more money into health care “in real terms”, including to private clinics willing to perform services at National Health System (NHS) prices. Leader David Cameron said he would guarantee access to a local GP 12-hours a day, seven days a week. Unlike Ontario, which is attempting to freeze wages for two years, the UK Tories are proposing a one-year public sector wage freeze for 2011, exempting the lowest paid workers. … The U.S. is failing in its efforts to eliminate hospital-acquired infections. A Health and Human Services department to Congress called for “urgent attention” to the problem. Of five major types of serious hospital-related infections, rates of illnesses increased for three, one showed no progress, and one showed a decline. As many as 98,000 people a year die from medical errors and preventable infections in the U.S. The same report also found deep disparities in access to health care between those with and without insurance. Examples include 74 percent of women ages 40 to 64 who had insurance had received a mammogram in the previous two years, compared with 38 percent of those without insurance. Children were twice as likely to have had a dental exam in the past year if they were insured.