TORONTO, November 26, 2002 -- Will the Romanow royal commission report on medicare, to be released Thursday, offer solutions that can restore public confidence in Canada’s health care system? York University scholars in health management and public policy will comment on the report and government responses to it.
Pat Armstrong, a professor in the department of sociology at York is co-author of the 1999 report, Women, Privatization and Health Care Reform: the Ontario Case, released in 1999 by the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health (NNEWH). It was the first comprehensive study of the effects of privatization and health care reform on women as both patients and providers of health care. The report found that Ontario had privatized health care more rapidly and extensively than any other province, with deleterious effects. Phone: 647-292-2216 (cell), email: patarmst@yorku.ca
Raymond Bazowski, a professor in the department of political science at York teaches public and business law, the Constitution and the limits of public administration. He argues for retaining Canada’s public health care system noting that there is no empirical evidence to suggest that private sector medicine will be more effective or cheaper. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 88828, email: rbazk@yorku.ca
Daniel Drache, a professor of political economy at York and director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, is co-author of Health Reform: Public Success, Private Failure (Routledge, 1999). It examines the case for privatization of health care delivery from a comparative perspective, looking at the mixed experiences and practices in Canada and internationally. Phone: 416-736-5415, or at home, 416-921-3332, email: drache@yorku.ca
Joel Lexchin, a Toronto emergency medicine physician and professor in the School of Health Policy and Management in the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies at York was part of a research consortium retained by the Romanow commission to study how globalization is affecting the Canadian health system, particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals. He says Canada should have a national pharma-care program added on to its health care system so that people do not have to make a choice between paying the rent and buying the medication they need. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 22119, at home: 416-964-7186, email: jlexchin@yorku.ca
Adeline Falk-Rafael is president of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and a professor in the School of Nursing, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies at York. She says a publicly funded, not-for-profit health care system is based on Canadian values and social justice, and is not only the moral choice that makes the most sense but, from the increasingly compelling evidence, is the choice that provides the best patient outcomes in the most cost-efficient way. Phone: RNAO home office, 416-599-1925.
Michael Orsini, a professor of political science at York’s Glendon College teaches public administration and public policy and has conducted research on the tainted blood scandal and lives of Canadians with hepatitis. He says the wide-ranging consultations conducted by the Romanow commission have helped to engage Canadians in the important debate about how to maintain and enhance the current medicare system. He supports reform of the Canada Health Act and says Canadians should be prepared to pay more for improvements in the system. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 88284, email: morsini@glendon.yorku.ca
Lesley Jacobs, philosophy professor and director of the Law & Society program in the Faculty of Arts, has written two books on access to health care, Pursuing Equal Opportunities (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy, forthcoming), and Canadian Health Care: Values, Rights, Law (UBC Press Law & Society Series). His focus is on the values that underlie Canadian health care and the implications for access and delivery as well as the broader constitutional issues. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 20547, email: jacobs@yorku.ca
Renita Wong, a professor in the School of Social Work, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies at York, is conducting research on mental health issues among Southeast and East Asian immigrant and refugee women in the GTA. She says the current national debate on health care should also be addressing the social determinants of health, such as affordable housing, unemployment, underemployment, and cultural conflict, as significant factors in raising the costs of public health care. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 66322, email: rylwong@yorku.ca
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For further information, please contact:
| Susan Bigelow |
| Media Relations |
| York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 |
| sbigelow@yorku.ca |
YU/112/02
