MLI Senior Fellow Dr. Shawn Whatley asks, why, over 11 months into the pandemic and amid a predictable second wave, are we faced with a choice of locking down or having our hospitals overrun?
Faced with locking down or overrunning our hospitals, Whatley argues that Canada’s lack of hospital capacity is a core issue. Prior to the pandemic, Canada had only 2.5 hospital beds per 1000 population compared to the OECD average of 4.7. It is clear that, given the low number of beds, Canada’s hospitals often overflow. Notably, Ontario has far fewer beds than other jurisdictions around the developed world.
In an MLI commentary titled, “COVID-19: Masking a Failed System,” Whatley argues that the pandemic gave medicare the stress test Canada had long hoped to avoid. You can read the full commentary here.
