Positive news for patients

No one can argue with this, though some would take exception to the ambitious nature of that statement, citing their own hospital nightmares as ample proof that the system can be seriously flawed.

But no one is claiming the system is perfect, in fact the news on the health-care front seems to be consistently negative. Staff shortages, facilities closing, language controversies, and proposed changes to the health insurance system all mean one thing — a steady eroding away of services to those who need it most. Moreover, there have been so many delays and downgrades to the once-ambitious MUHC Glen Yards project that the popular word ‘superhospital’ is no longer even used.

But every now and again there is some positive news, and a perfect example of that came earlier this month with the announcement of the Queen Elizabeth Family Medicine Group (QEFMG) — the uniting of several local clinics to provide much more accessible non-critical emergency medical services.

Centred in (but not restricted to) the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex, which is so close to Westmount that it has always played a prominent role in the local health-care infrastructure, the QEFMG has earned the praise of those who have already taken advantage of its services. Less waiting time, easier access to health-care professionals — everything about the QEFMG seems to support the notion that we finally have a viable and more convenient alternative to that dreaded all-day trip to one of the downtown hospitals, where Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' could soon replace magazines as the waiting room reading material of choice.

Part of the aim of this new grouping of local clinics is to divert patients away from the emergency wards of the larger hospitals, thus reducing the waiting time for those with more severe injuries and ailments. It is a strategy that is sure to work, once the QEFMG gets off the ground and word gets around.

The MUHC — in particular Dr. Porter and Westmount's Dr. Mark Roper — is to be praised for this initiative. It is a positive step forward for a troubled health-care system that is too often forced to take backward steps and makes things progressively worse for patients.

The right care in the right place at the right time…Hopefully Dr. Porter's words will stand as the motto for the QEFMG as it grows into a welcome and much-appreciated community institution.