The frustration is shared by Canadian ambulance crews. Canadian health officials blame this year's crisis on a particularly nasty flu bug this winter that has strained emergency rooms across the country. But most Canadians say it is the health care system itself that is truly sick. So Canada closed hospital wards, eliminated 11,000 hospital beds, reduced nursing staffs, cut the number of places in state medical schools. But now there is a nursing shortage, and there is a need of 100,000 more in the next 10 years.
Family doctors are scarce, as medical professionals flee to the United States for higher salaries.
The government promised more nursing homes and home health care for the elderly who are sick but not critically ill. It hasn't happened. The waiting will only get longer because, like that of the United States, Canada's population is growing older, which means more patients for an already overburdened health care system. ABC News Internet Ventures. Click here for Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Internet Safety Information applicable to this site.