We are witnessing a 15 to 20-year setback in the quality of care offered to patients.

My bastard boss is the Quebec government and its bureaucrats. Cuts of $1.5 billion in the health care sector meant that today we had to say goodbye to 11 colleagues in our radiology department. These province-wide cuts represent a loss of health services to the population and a step backwards in practices. One radiologist explained on the radio that we were witnessing a 15 to 20-year setback in the quality of care offered to patients. Imagine: a patient living in the region suffers a hemorrhage following childbirth. The first and best option is embolization of the uterine artery causing the bleeding. Due to budget cuts, this service is no longer offered in the evening or at night. The second option is to risk transferring the unstable patient to an urban center. The third option, which represents a 20-year setback: perform an emergency hysterectomy, i.e. remove the uterus. This is just one example among many. This is the “progress” offered to us under capitalism. While the rich get treated in private clinics, working-class men and women suffer setbacks in their healthcare, sometimes at the risk of their own lives.