Yesterday, the autoclave technician came by the office to service and certify the gizmo that we use to sterilize surgical instraments.
He replaced a perfectly good $20 "O" ring and changed the water in the tank (something we do weekly).....and the bill? $550!!!!!!!
Yes, he operates a virtual monopoly in the city...he's pretty much the only guy that does this kind of "certifying" work.
Did he deserve $500? Certainly not! Is charging honestly? Certainly not! Is it a 100% tax write-off? Yes - so that is why I'm tempted to not worry too much about it....but I hate getting ripped off! So I'm going to investigate how buy my own "O" rings and get my friend (a boiler technician) to give this guy some badly needed competition in the city!
When I calculate the cost of each surgery, I now have to factor in the cost of the autoclave technician, and the fact that my bipolar cautery setup costs $250 for only 10 uses!
No wonder our Calgary Health Region is $100M in the hole! People want first world class service for third world class prices!
I think that thoughts about universal health care reality is now slowly starting to "swing" the other way....it's a nice idea, but it is impossible to provide "for free" to constituents that insist on avoiding "socialist policies"........
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
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