Since last December,  my family has spent a disproportionate amount of time in the hospital, and I figure their experiences might give some Americans a little insight into how the Canuck system actually works. 

 Dad's condition is the least serious, and probably most common, so it seems a good place to start.  Dad's had diabetes since the mid 90s. Up til last year, it was controlled with pills, but  after some careful monitoring, the docs decided insulin would be a better fit for him.  While he was making the change over, he was monitored by the community health nurse. 

  My younger sister was diagnosed with colitis in 2000, just before she graduated from high school.   Since then she's had 8 major surgeries and 3 or 4 minor ones on her bowels.  After trying a lot of options, she and her doctors came to the conclusion that a permanent colostomy was the best option for her.   They came to the decision in mid  October 2008, and she had the surgery done on December 3rd 2008.  Her surgeon is the Chief of surgery for the hospital, and  his schedule had a lot to do with the delay.  This was major surgery, but  waiting really wouldn't affect my sister's health at all.   That ought to give you some ideas  about wait times. Due to complications, she spent three weeks in the hospital, and another month having nurses come in to change her bandages

  Mom went to her GP for a  regular checkup in  mid July of 2007  and offhandedly mentioned she'd had  a little trouble swallowing for  a few weeks. She was scheduled for an MRI the next week. Two years ago to the day, my mother met with an oncologist, who told her she had esophageal cancer. She started an agressive chemo and radiation campaign in early September.

   Esophageal cancer is one of those  very agressive cancers that usually isn't diagnosed until its too late.  My mom fought the disease for 20 months, which I'm told is a very long time all things considered. The radiologists, and oncologists were very good about making sure we understood what was happening, every step of the way, and her GP made housecalls to make sure she was comfortable. 

   The Canadian system is far from perfect, but  my family has gotten very good care from it over the last few years, and we haven't had to go bankrupt to do so.