Private clinic opens in Montreal to cheers and fears

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 13 Oct 2004 - 11:00 PDT


A former emergency room doctor, Dr Luc Bessette, along with two other former emergency room doctors, opened a private clinic in Montreal, Canada, fuelling the cheers and fears about a two-tier health system developing in the country.

Dr. Bessette said the province needs a private hospital to complement the few private clinics that service patients outside the provincial health insurance system.

Dr. Bessette used to work at St. Luc Hospital, Montreal.

According to Dr. Christian Hobden one of the three to set up this private hospital, the hospital cost several hundred thousand dollars to set up. Dr. Christian Hobden used to be Chief of Emergency Medicine at Laval's Cite de la Sante Hospital.

Patients who come to this private hospital will have to pay out of pocket.

Bessette says he is not against public health care. Rather, he believes people should have the freedom to choose.

Dr. Christian Hobden said the law now must be changed to allow private hospitals.

The new private hospital is called The MD-Plus Medical Clinic.

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