Canada's health care makes modest strides

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OTTAWA?-?

Canada's health-care system hit the modest targets laid out in the 2004 health accord, according to a new report.

Still, the Health Council of Canada's new annual analysis says that "vague commitments coupled with low expectations" contained in the accord mean it failed to attain broader accomplishments.

"The evidence suggests that the accords were designed more to put all provinces and territories on an equal footing than to push them consistently toward excellence in health care," the report states.

Council CEO John Abbott said "the system is more than emergency rooms and access to a family physician."

Abbott also urged the provinces to do more to share successful and innovative practices across jurisdictions in a bid to improve the system nationwide.

The report by the independent body assessed the progress made since 2004 in the health-care system in home and community care, the numbers of doctors and nurses in the system, access to care in the North and so-called telehealth - the use of technology to expand care to remote communities.

The current health accord was negotiated in 2004, expires in 2014 and transfers billions of dollars from the federal government to the provinces.

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