Money well spent

The Globe reported this morning on the Conference Board of Canada's comparison of provinces. But while B.C. emerged on top for health indicators alone, there can be little doubt that Saskatchewan is getting more bang for its buck than any other province.

In particular, based on the chart at the bottom of the article, Saskatchewan ranked 7th in per-capita health spending in 2004, yet placed 3rd in health indicators - a gap matched only by Quebec (9th and 5th respectively). So the money spent by Saskatchewan on health care has resulted in remarkably good outcomes.

But it gets better. Consider which other provinces managed to achieve high rankings in health outcomes. Saskatchewan was the lone smaller-population province to join B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec in the top 5 for overall health performance...and it managed to make its way to the middle of that group despite being outspent by most provinces.

In other words, Saskatchewan alone has managed its resources efficiently enough to overcome both the economies of scale held by provinces with more population to support, and the additional funding put into health care by other provinces.

Obviously there's still a ways for Saskatchewan to go in strengthening health care (as there is for every other province). But Calvert, Nilson and company deserve credit for setting an example that other provinces should be eager to follow.