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7 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,July 28,2022 w aterloochronicle.ca AREAAREA RUGSRUGS 8' X 11'8' X 11' STARTING FROMSTARTING FROM $$199199NOT EXACTLYAS SHOWN NO TAX! 5.5" WIDE5.5" WIDE STEP BASESTEP BASE 6" WIDE6" WIDE SQUARESQUARE 3/7" WIDE3/7" WIDE COLONIALCOLONIAL $$119999FROM PER LIN FTREG 3.29 $$225959FROM PER LIN FTREG 3.99 $$009999FROM PER LIN FTREG 3.29 IN STOCK! IN STOCK! IN STOCK! IN STOCK! IN STOCK! IN STOCK! IN STOCK! 99¢FROM SQ FTREG 2.999999 13" X 13"13" X 13" PORCELAINPORCELAIN TILESTILES CLICKCLICK LUXURYLUXURY VINYL PLANKSVINYL PLANKS $$119999FROM PER SQ FTREG 3.99 FULLY STOCKED!FULLY STOCKED! BIGGESTBIGGEST ON THEON THEBLOCK!BLOCK! $339999FROM HARDHARD WOODWOOD $$ STARTING FROMSTARTING FROM $119999FROM LAMINATELAMINATE $$ STARTING FROMSTARTING FROM 47" WIDE VINYL47" WIDE VINYL STAIR TREADSSTAIR TREADS STEP & RISER INCLUDEDSTEP & RISER INCLUDED $$65659999FROM EACH $889999FROM LEDGELEDGE STONESTONE $$ STARTING FROMSTARTING FROM $119999FROM SUBWAYSUBWAY TILETILE $$ STARTING FROMSTARTING FROM 1362VICTORIA ST N. KITCHENER • MON-SAT 9AM-6PM SUN 10AM-5PM It turns out the prob- lems exposed in the health-care system during the pandemic were only the beginning. In fairness, many point- ed out the cracks we saw widen during the past 2.5 years had really been emerging before the win- ter of 2020. Even still, much of our attention since then has been focused on hospi- tal capacity to meet pan- demic demands and the quality of care in our long- term-care homes. We should be so lucky to have only these two issues in need of repair. The real- ity is the issues in our health-care system are far greater in number and the solutions far greater in complexity. Most recently -- and per- haps most urgently -- we have hospital emergency rooms in smaller Ontario centres being forced to close due to staffing short- ages. Nearby Listowel and Clinton were a couple of af- fected communities, while Perth, near Ottawa, was an- other. On a recent motorcycle ride through Mount For- est, I noticed a roadside sign making community members aware of the hours their hospital emer- gency room would be closed that weekend. Tom- my Douglas would never have envisioned such a sign. Yet here we are. Earlier this month, pro- vincial premiers ended a two-day summit with an appeal to the federal gov- ernment to increase health-care funding. Natu- rally, the feds say they're already providing more than the provinces claim to be getting. The blame game will do no more to solve the problems than will simply pouring more money into the system. It's far more complicated than that. Across Canada, some five million people do not have a family doctor. In Ontario alone, that num- ber is 1.3 million. That means, in order to access primary care, these mil- lions of people are trying their luck at a walk-in clin- ic or waiting hours in a hospital emergency room. Now imagine working in that hospital emergency room, where the hours are as long as the waiting room lines. And neither the shifts nor the lines are get- ting any shorter. Mix in a pandemic and the in- creased risk of contracting an illness of your own and we begin to understand why hospitals are finding themselves short-staffed. There's burnout, sick days and other more attractive roles to pursue within the health-care field. Not to mention in Onta- rio, those front line emer- gency room nurses have been told their future wage increases will be capped at 1 per cent. None of it screams "pleasant work environment with above- average pay." And we haven't even talked about the physical and verbal abuse those on the front lines are facing every day. We also haven't talked about the 10,000 vacant registered nurse's posi- tions in Ontario or our in- effectiveness in recruiting skilled immigrants to fill key health-care roles. If it sounds like a system in shambles, that's be- cause it is. And the longer the de- lays within the system, or our delays in getting to the business of fixing it, the worse our health out- comes become. At this point, the only thing universal about Ca- nadian health care should be our cry for help. Columnist Mike Far- well is a broadcaster, MC and advocate. Follow him on Twitter at @far- well_WR, or connect with him via Mike.Far- well@rci.rogers.com. OUR HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM: 'IF IT SOUNDS LIKE A SYSTEM IN SHAMBLES, THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS' OPINION THE BLAME GAME WILL DO NO MORE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS THAN WILL SIMPLY POURING MORE MONEY INTO THE SYSTEM, WRITES MIKE FARWELL MIKE FARWELL Column