The Waiting Room

If I were to take a very literal approach to the title of the documentary The Waiting Room, I would compare it to my own experience in the waiting room at the Grace Hospital. My sister had a bruised foot after a beer keg fell on her foot during a particularly exuberant round at the Beer Olympics.

The wait was long, especially at 1 in the morning on a Friday night, but not nearly as long as some of the patients who had to wait at Highlands Hospital in The Waiting Room.

And, unlike Highland Hospital, there was no bill waiting for us at the end either.

While wait times are bound to happen, in terms of health care between Canada and the U.S., the similarities are ending there.

In Canada, we have the Canada Health Act, administered by the Federal government in order for provinces to receive funding for their own public health insurance:

“It is hereby declared that the primary objective of Canadian health care policy is to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers.” (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-6/).

It makes sure that Canadians aren’t charged additional fees by the province or by doctors.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., they have two public health insurances: Medicare and Medicaid (http://www.medicare.gov/ and http://medicaid.gov/). If you aren’t over 65 (Medicare) or have low income (Medicaid), you can apply for private health insurance, which can get expensive and doesn’t necessarily cover all your costs.

Hence The Waiting Room’s depressing payment scene near the end.

Yet, this is what makes this documentary compelling. You’re watching and at times, frustrated, moved, and saddened by the doctors, nurses, and patients who deal with the politics of waiting for open beds, private vs. public clinics, and being at a loss on how to deal with their sicknesses.

During the panel after the movie, Dr. Anne Durcan from the Mount Carmel Clinic said she couldn’t imagine working in the hospital, and I agree with her. But the Highland Hospital nurses held their own, with attitudes you'd see in a Hollywood film, keeping everyone's spirits up and everything in order.

Even the patients, despite waiting long hours, added to the flow of the film, creating interesting dynamics and memorable scenes. The narrative of the documentary moved through several different people: a young couple facing an expensive surgery, a father worried over his daughter’s swollen throat, and a man addicted to crystal meth. It would be hard to determine what makes a story more compelling than another in a hospital, but the ones showcased in the documentary kept me interested till the very end.

And even though the documentary didn’t give much context at times, it was revealing in a way that placed no blame either on doctors or patients- not even on the system, which is still lagging. 

I'm very thankful and fortunate that when my sister and I left the Grace Hospital that morning, she was given crutches and a prescription for pain medication, instead of a bill she couldn't afford.