It is discouraging to hear the Minster of Community and Cultural Affairs, Elmer MacFadyen, use the priorities of health care as reason(s) for the lack of attention to his department. This morning on CBC Radio, Minister MacFadyen phoned in to “On the Line” with Paul MacNeil and expressed his position on the controversial topic of museums and the protection of artifacts on PEI by simply saying that we need to remember our priorities, and mentioned health care at the top of the list. MacFadyen stated that if it were not for the community in Murray River and the Northumberland Development Corporation, an artifactory for PEI would not even be on the radar, let alone a museum.

This begs the response: If health care reigns as the hog of resources, then why bother with the little piggies in the other departments. Are we to be alarmed by this apparent lack of shared resources within our current government system? Are we to be even more alarmed at the current state of health care on PEI?

Or more to the point…what about our health?

We are in fix mode and have been for a very long time. So many resources, in monetary and human terms, have been spent on the treatment of disease on PEI. So much effort and concern goes into finding and retaining doctors. We are consumed by the ‘back end’ of a system that could, if presented with a ‘front end’ system, benefit on from a more balanced approach. We could, in essence, see a healthier PEI.

In business we talk about the importance of ‘front end’. We know that any good project manager will spend as much on systems development as systems implementation. The idea of a comprehensive preventative health care plan does not even register as priority with our current government on PEI.

Here are the divisions in the Department of Health as listed on the PEI Government Website: (you will find the at the very bottom of the Primary Care link the Strategy for Healthy Living report submitted to the government in 2002 by a steering committee)

In the conclusion of this, now 5 year old report, it was recommended that the “Next steps in the development of the Strategy will include facilitation of Regional Networks and development of their Operational Plans, and facilitation and development of Provincial Work Plans.”

I have scoured the government website looking for the Operational Plans…nada.

The report itself is a good one. Focusing on shared responsibilities, creating alliances and collaborations with community efforts as well as provincial. The potential in front end efforts could be astounding. It is a matter of health prevention but it is also a matter of economics. Bigger on the front end pays off.

The Department of Health deserves a division of Health Prevention…not just a fake link to a website which leads to a pdf file of a report that has all but been ignored.

Good luck to Minister MacFadyen (and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs) in your efforts, or lack thereof, to preserve the people’s history of the Island.