Kelowna Daily Courier Monday, 30 July 2012 02:00 Don Plant
A Kamloops specialist went on the radio this month to complain about
something that affects all of us - less money flowing into patient care.
Dr. Dennis Karpiak said our medical system is unsustainable because it's
filled with a rising number of bureaucrats who are making it harder for
doctors to do their jobs.
"You can walk through any hospital and find more administration offices
than patient rooms. There's one administrator for every two patients,"
he told CKNW.
Nurses are so understaffed and overworked, they simply give out pills,
Karpiak said. At the same time, hospitals have reduced their in-patient
beds.
Thirty years ago, Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops had more than 300
beds. The city's population has grown by a third since then, and yet the
beds have decreased to 260.
At Kelowna General, 318 beds are open to acute-care patients - a number
that has barely budged, even after a major expansion to a hospital that
serves twice as many city residents as it did in the 1980s. Eight vice-presidents now work for Interior Health. Nineteen administrators earn more than $150,000 a year.
More than 400 employees gross more than $100,000, and 2,400 draw more than $75,000.
It's an "overwhelming increase in bureaucracy" at the expense of patient care, Karpiak says.
"This is not Tommy Douglas's 1965 vision. Medicare was established to
protect families from the consequences of ill health and to cover their
doctors and hospital bills. It was not intended to be a playground for bureaucrats to spend taxpayer's money."
Many IH administrators also work as physicians, so they collect a salary
on top of their fees for service. More than 17,000 of the health
authority's 18,000 employees are unionized workers who earn at most
$103,000 before overtime, says John Johnston, vice president of people
and clinical services.(more)
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http://www.interiorhealth.ca/AboutUs/Accountability/Pages/FinancialReporting.aspx
2011 Schedule of Remuneration and Expenses 2011
2011 Executive Compensation 2011
2011 Board Remuneration 2011
1 comment:
Wow, this "CRITIQUE" is long overdue and direct to the point of the current bloated bureaucracy of the Interior Hospital Administration.
"You can walk through any hospital and find more administration offices than patient rooms. There's one administrator for every two patients," this is particularly evident at the Vernon Hospital.
Dr. Dennis Karpiak should be given the Order of BC for stating so succently the current malaise in the BC Medical System.
The Provincial Government should appoint a royal commission and get the BC Medical System back on track.
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