Singapore hospitals lure Calgary patients with lower fees, sightseeing
Last Updated: Monday, September 29, 2008 | 8:24 PM ET
CBC News
Warren Schlosser plans to pay $20,000 for hip replacement surgery in Singapore. (CBC)A Singapore company is holding seminars in Calgary, offering patients who are on years-long waiting lists quick hip and knee replacement surgeries — and some sightseeing.
Parkway Health, which owns three hospitals in Singapore, has been in the city touting its medical tourism packages since the weekend.
"We realize that there's a certain group of people, of patients … in Canada that has a long waiting time," said Kamalijeet Singh Gill, Parkway Health's chief marketing officer.
"The day they arrive, maximum within 24 hours, they're operated on. If it's a spinal surgery, within three days they're out of the hospital," he said of the care offered at his Singapore hospitals.
After patients are discharged, they embark on sightseeing trips to explore the country.
"So patients might think about, 'Hey, why don't I take a vacation, fly down to a foreign country like Singapore, get the procedure done, at the same time sightsee, bring my wife, bring my loved one with me, have a holiday at the same time.' "
Gill said patients from Alberta and Quebec are increasingly opting to fly to Singapore, at an average cost of $12,000 for some spinal procedures and $16,000 for hip replacements.
Calgary seminar signs up 6 patients
Warren Schlosser, who lives in Calgary, has been living in pain since a bad crash ended his trucking career two years ago.
He needs a new hip but said doctors in Calgary told him he would have to wait two more years.
Schlosser was told the surgery in Singapore would cost him about $20,000 — or 40 per cent less than what he'd pay in the United States. He's heading to Singapore in six months.
"You hit a point where the money doesn't mean too much if you can't utilize it or if you have to live in pain," he said. "You've got no mobility, like your world is ... a table-top high and you've got to rely on a wheelchair to really become mobile, to go to any functions."
Gill said on Monday that six Calgarians have already signed up with Parkway Health. About 240,000 out-of-country patients fly to Singapore every year for surgeries, he added.
Dr. Glenn Comm, a former president of the Calgary and Area Physicians Association, said it's a sign people are becoming increasingly desperate.
"It's a sign of a system that was cut back beyond what was reasonable many years ago and they have never restored the capacity," he said on Monday.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Greece passes new austerity deal amid rioting
- Greek lawmakers have approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-crippled nation from bankruptcy, after riots in Athens and other cities left stores looted and burned and more than 120 people hurt. more »
- Quebec town 'heartbroken' after killing of woman, sisters
- A small Quebec town is in mourning Sunday after a Quebec man was charged with killing his nieces and his mother, who were found dead in their family home. more »
- Hit and run victim's family fears accused will walk
- The family of a young mother killed in a hit and run is outraged that the case against the alleged driver is among thousands in B.C. at risk of being thrown out because of a huge court backlog. more »
- Neil Macdonald: The death penalty debate America isn't having
- Texas's death row archive is a troubling document, not the least for what it doesn't say about those who may be wrongfully convicted, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
Latest Health News Headlines
- Electric boost helps brain learn
- People learned better when a key part of their brains got mild zaps of electricity, a finding that may someday help Alzheimer's patients keep more of their memories. more »
- Quebec takes on bullying
- The Quebec government is introducing new measures to counter bullying in schools. more »
- Smoking pot doubles car accident risk
- Smoking marijuana a couple of hours before you drive almost doubles your chances of having a serious car crash, say Canadian researchers. more »
- Teddy bear sale raises money for charity
- The family of a Vancouver school teacher who died of cancer sells off her teddy bear collection to raise money for charity. more »
FEATURED HEALTH
- Adele wins best album, best record Grammys
- Houston autopsy results withheld by police
- Quebec town 'heartbroken' after killing of woman, sisters
- Northern lights viewed from space
- Greece passes new austerity deal amid rioting
- Pop queen Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Manitoba man dies after falling off moving SUV
- Doors blocked in fatal Manitoba trailer blaze
- Former Stanley Park petting zoo goats feared slaughtered

