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https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/feat...face-of-the-healthcare-crisis-in-nova-scotia/
3. Inez Rudderham
Inez Rudderham
Premier McNeil says he watched some of the video Inez Rudderham, a young Nova Scotia woman with cancer, posted on her Facebook profile this week. In the video, Rudderham tearfully talks about the cancer diagnosis she received two years ago, after trying to get a family doctor and being turned away from ERs. Now, she’s waiting to get mental-health care to deal with that diagnosis.
As of Thursday afternoon, the video had more than 1.6 million views. Andrew Rankin at the Chronicle Herald talks with Rudderham’s aunt, Terry Rudderham.
In his statement, McNeil says he contacted the Nova Scotia Health Authority to connect Rudderham with psychiatric services for oncology patients.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/o...-cancer-patient-inez-rudderhams-video-306112/
EDITORIAL: Viral video a four-minute indictment of health system
Premium content
The Chronicle Herald
Published: Apr 26 at 7:26 p.m.
Updated: Apr 27 at 7:56 a.m.
Inez Rudderham, in a screen grab from her Facebook video, that as of Thursday morning had been viewed more than a million times. - Facebook - The Chronicle Herald
Inez Rudderham has done us all a huge service.
But it’s hard to imagine the premier and the mandarins running the health-care service in this province feeling grateful for her message.
Ms. Rudderham is the young woman whose heartfelt, touching video went viral this week, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and generating news stories across the country.
In it, she challenged Premier Stephen McNeil to meet with her face to face and deny that there is a health-care crisis in Nova Scotia. The 33-year-old mother has been battling anal cancer for months now, and tells her story in the four-minute video.
So much about Rudderham’s story squares with everything we’ve been hearing for years now from health-care workers, patients and their family members about how problems with our health care system have affected them.
Let’s start with the doctor shortage. Rudderham had no access to a family physician, and visited emergency rooms several times when she began feeling symptoms.
She said she was brushed off but had to keep returning until she was taken seriously. This is the second aspect of our system Nova Scotians have been telling us about so much: overcrowded ERs being forced to bear too much of the burden of initial care.
A visit to a family physician would likely have spotted Rudderham’s problem earlier. When it was finally diagnosed, it was at Stage 3, and she was rushed into an intense round of radiation treatments. Early detection, we’re constantly told, is the key to treating cancer, but that didn’t seem possible for Inez Rudderham.
As she recovered, Rudderham felt the need for some mental health support, as many of us would. Reaching out in January for help, she finally heard this month that she could see someone in July. This is the third, almost universal, experience Nova Scotians have told us about: how long it takes to get mental health treatment.
At one time, Inez Rudderham might have written a letter to the editor. But that couldn’t possibly have had the same impact that her tearful plea for understanding has had via social media. There’s a raw, genuine truth to her four-minute video that encapsulates our collective experience with health care.
That’s the thing: everyone has to see a doctor. Everyone visits an emergency room once in a while. Everyone has someone in their family or social circle who’s going through a tough time, healthwise.
McNeil did not commit to a meeting with Rudderham, but said he has asked health officials to look into the case. He leaves the province on Monday on a trade mission to Europe and China.
No communications strategy or list of talking points can effectively respond to this. There’s no way to deny or avoid the conclusion that our health-care system is truly in crisis, partly brought on by government policy.
It’s time for the premier to step up and admit it, for once. These aren’t “challenges” that require “adjustments,” as he says.
This is a full-blown crisis and people are hurting, right now. The premier should acknowledge that at a bare minimum.
CATCH UP ON THE STORY:
https://globalnews.ca/news/5201898/woman-makes-plea-to-premier/
Updated: April 26, 2019 8:03 am
‘This is the face of the health-care crisis’: N.S. woman with cancer challenges premier on doctor shortage
By Graeme Benjamin Online Producer/Reporter Global News
WATCH: Nova Scotia mother calls out premier on doctor shortage
A A
A Nova Scotia mother who says she waited two years for her cancer diagnosis is calling out the premier for not declaring a health-care crisis in the province.
“To the premier of Nova Scotia, I dare you to take a meeting with me … and tell me there is no health-care crisis,” Inez Rudderham said in a viral Facebook video that has been viewed over 1 million times.
READ MORE: Doctors Nova Scotia demand ‘immediate action’ on physician shortages
In the tearful and emotionally-charged video, the 33-year-old mother said she went undiagnosed with Stage 3 anal cancer for two years due to her lack of access to a family doctor.
WATCH: Nova Scotia woman with cancer challenges premier on doctor shortage
Rudderham states she has received 30 rounds of radiation to her pelvis, which has left her “barren and infertile.” When taking her health concerns to the emergency rooms, Rudderham says she was brushed off.
“It’s OK though, right? Because they caught it. They caught it when it was Stage 3,” Rudderham cried.
“You want to tell me that there’s no health-care crisis in my province?”
WATCH: Life on the wait list: Stories of Nova Scotia’s family doctor shortage
The video posted on Tuesday has been shared more than 46,000 times and viewed by 1.2 million. A crowdfunding campaign for Rudderham has raised over $10,000.
Premier Stephen McNeil says he has seen the video and the Department of Health is reaching out to Rudderham, but again stopped short of saying there is a health-care crisis.
“There are challenges in the health-care system, in parts of accessing primary care,” McNeil said. “We continue to make adjustments. We’re in a system that hadn’t changed for decades.”
Health Minsiter Randy Delorey says the issues are concerning, but not exclusive to Nova Scotia.
“We acknowledge them. We are making efforts, we’ve been focused on those efforts for the last couple years and again use the example of primary health care, we’re seeing improvements across the province,” said Delorey.
READ MORE: Appointment no-shows common across N.S. as family doctor registry continues to grow
But opposition parties say they were disappointed in the province’s reaction to the video.
“I think when you compare the authenticity and directness of the very difficulty she speaks from with the discourse of the minister of health, I find what the minister has to say superficial and glib and empty,” said Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrill.
“There’s so many layers along the way, so many parts of the system that failed her,” said PC MLA Tim Halman.
Rudderham is calling for a face-to-face meeting with Premier McNeil.
3. Inez Rudderham
Inez Rudderham
Premier McNeil says he watched some of the video Inez Rudderham, a young Nova Scotia woman with cancer, posted on her Facebook profile this week. In the video, Rudderham tearfully talks about the cancer diagnosis she received two years ago, after trying to get a family doctor and being turned away from ERs. Now, she’s waiting to get mental-health care to deal with that diagnosis.
This is the face of the health-care crisis in Nova Scotia. I cannot receive help for trauma that I experienced because of this failed system until July.
What about my four-year-old daughter who doesn’t have me there, fully, because I need help and I’m not receiving it?
What about my four-year-old daughter who doesn’t have me there, fully, because I need help and I’m not receiving it?
As of Thursday afternoon, the video had more than 1.6 million views. Andrew Rankin at the Chronicle Herald talks with Rudderham’s aunt, Terry Rudderham.
I felt what many people are feeling after watching that video,” said Terry. “I first felt a lot of love for Inez. I really admire her bravery, of course. But I felt really sad she’s in this situation and also that many, many people in this province are also in this situation.
In his statement, McNeil says he contacted the Nova Scotia Health Authority to connect Rudderham with psychiatric services for oncology patients.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/o...-cancer-patient-inez-rudderhams-video-306112/
EDITORIAL: Viral video a four-minute indictment of health system
Premium content
The Chronicle Herald
Published: Apr 26 at 7:26 p.m.
Updated: Apr 27 at 7:56 a.m.
Inez Rudderham, in a screen grab from her Facebook video, that as of Thursday morning had been viewed more than a million times. - Facebook - The Chronicle Herald
There’s a raw, genuine truth to her four-minute video that encapsulates our collective experience with health care.
Inez Rudderham has done us all a huge service.
But it’s hard to imagine the premier and the mandarins running the health-care service in this province feeling grateful for her message.
Ms. Rudderham is the young woman whose heartfelt, touching video went viral this week, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and generating news stories across the country.
In it, she challenged Premier Stephen McNeil to meet with her face to face and deny that there is a health-care crisis in Nova Scotia. The 33-year-old mother has been battling anal cancer for months now, and tells her story in the four-minute video.
So much about Rudderham’s story squares with everything we’ve been hearing for years now from health-care workers, patients and their family members about how problems with our health care system have affected them.
Let’s start with the doctor shortage. Rudderham had no access to a family physician, and visited emergency rooms several times when she began feeling symptoms.
She said she was brushed off but had to keep returning until she was taken seriously. This is the second aspect of our system Nova Scotians have been telling us about so much: overcrowded ERs being forced to bear too much of the burden of initial care.
A visit to a family physician would likely have spotted Rudderham’s problem earlier. When it was finally diagnosed, it was at Stage 3, and she was rushed into an intense round of radiation treatments. Early detection, we’re constantly told, is the key to treating cancer, but that didn’t seem possible for Inez Rudderham.
As she recovered, Rudderham felt the need for some mental health support, as many of us would. Reaching out in January for help, she finally heard this month that she could see someone in July. This is the third, almost universal, experience Nova Scotians have told us about: how long it takes to get mental health treatment.
At one time, Inez Rudderham might have written a letter to the editor. But that couldn’t possibly have had the same impact that her tearful plea for understanding has had via social media. There’s a raw, genuine truth to her four-minute video that encapsulates our collective experience with health care.
That’s the thing: everyone has to see a doctor. Everyone visits an emergency room once in a while. Everyone has someone in their family or social circle who’s going through a tough time, healthwise.
McNeil did not commit to a meeting with Rudderham, but said he has asked health officials to look into the case. He leaves the province on Monday on a trade mission to Europe and China.
No communications strategy or list of talking points can effectively respond to this. There’s no way to deny or avoid the conclusion that our health-care system is truly in crisis, partly brought on by government policy.
It’s time for the premier to step up and admit it, for once. These aren’t “challenges” that require “adjustments,” as he says.
This is a full-blown crisis and people are hurting, right now. The premier should acknowledge that at a bare minimum.
CATCH UP ON THE STORY:
https://globalnews.ca/news/5201898/woman-makes-plea-to-premier/
Updated: April 26, 2019 8:03 am
‘This is the face of the health-care crisis’: N.S. woman with cancer challenges premier on doctor shortage
By Graeme Benjamin Online Producer/Reporter Global News WATCH: Nova Scotia mother calls out premier on doctor shortage
A A
A Nova Scotia mother who says she waited two years for her cancer diagnosis is calling out the premier for not declaring a health-care crisis in the province.
“To the premier of Nova Scotia, I dare you to take a meeting with me … and tell me there is no health-care crisis,” Inez Rudderham said in a viral Facebook video that has been viewed over 1 million times.
READ MORE: Doctors Nova Scotia demand ‘immediate action’ on physician shortages
In the tearful and emotionally-charged video, the 33-year-old mother said she went undiagnosed with Stage 3 anal cancer for two years due to her lack of access to a family doctor.
WATCH: Nova Scotia woman with cancer challenges premier on doctor shortage
Rudderham states she has received 30 rounds of radiation to her pelvis, which has left her “barren and infertile.” When taking her health concerns to the emergency rooms, Rudderham says she was brushed off.
“It’s OK though, right? Because they caught it. They caught it when it was Stage 3,” Rudderham cried.
“I fought. I fought for my life.”
Rudderham also says she has been waiting to utilize mental health services since January, only to find out this month that she can only get an appointment in mid-July.“You want to tell me that there’s no health-care crisis in my province?”
WATCH: Life on the wait list: Stories of Nova Scotia’s family doctor shortage
The video posted on Tuesday has been shared more than 46,000 times and viewed by 1.2 million. A crowdfunding campaign for Rudderham has raised over $10,000.
Premier Stephen McNeil says he has seen the video and the Department of Health is reaching out to Rudderham, but again stopped short of saying there is a health-care crisis.
“There are challenges in the health-care system, in parts of accessing primary care,” McNeil said. “We continue to make adjustments. We’re in a system that hadn’t changed for decades.”
Health Minsiter Randy Delorey says the issues are concerning, but not exclusive to Nova Scotia.
“We acknowledge them. We are making efforts, we’ve been focused on those efforts for the last couple years and again use the example of primary health care, we’re seeing improvements across the province,” said Delorey.
READ MORE: Appointment no-shows common across N.S. as family doctor registry continues to grow
But opposition parties say they were disappointed in the province’s reaction to the video.
“I think when you compare the authenticity and directness of the very difficulty she speaks from with the discourse of the minister of health, I find what the minister has to say superficial and glib and empty,” said Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrill.
“There’s so many layers along the way, so many parts of the system that failed her,” said PC MLA Tim Halman.
Rudderham is calling for a face-to-face meeting with Premier McNeil.
“This is the face of the health-care crisis in Nova Scotia, and I dare you to tell me otherwise.”
With files from Alicia Draus. 
