A local philanthropist believes a ?cutting edge? health and dental program he founded and offered free of charge to needy Calgarians could slash millions of dollars in provincial health-care costs.
Allan Markin, former chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Limited, said the opening of the Pure North Outreach Health and Dental Care Clinic will eventually lead to a partnership with the province.
?There?s a strong business case for what we do,? said Markin, flanked by Premier Alison Redford and Calgary police chief Rick Hanson.
?Every year, the federal government spends billions of tax dollars supporting a system that fixes the sick instead of making people healthy. We don?t have a health-care system, we have sick care system.?
Operating out of the Mustard Seed in downtown Calgary, the Pure North Outreach Health and Dental Care Clinic provides dental, physician and preventive health care to homeless and low-income populations five days a week.
It?s an extension of the Pure North program Markin founded in 2003. That program typically entails lifestyle counselling, blood analysis, nutrition and exercise coaching, as well as high doses of vitamin D and other nutritional supplements.
Markin said the health and dental care clinic, which began operating on a smaller scale in 2011, cost $40 million to run annually and saw an increase of more than 10,000 participants last year.
Many of those received full dental work, including the removal and replacement of amalgam fillings. The clinic, and Markin, claims exposure to amalgam fillings is unhealthy to the environment, patients and health-care providers.
Markin said preliminary data suggests people who have participated in the program, including the removal of all amalgam fillings, saw improvements in productivity, earnings, and a reduction in spending on hospitalization and physician services.
?For every dollar we spend, at least $12 in health-care savings and societal benefits,? he said.
?At a time where acute care costs are increasing rapidly there is potential, which I firmly believe, to reduce hospitalizations fairly quickly by as much as 23 per cent for people in the program.?
Police chief Rick Hanson credited Markin, the program, as well as other homeless and health outreach programs, for the change in downtown Calgary in recent years.
?The work that has been done by Mr. Markin and his staff has been so essential to improving the conditions down here,? said Hanson, referring to the turnaround in visible homeless and crime in the city?s downtown core.
Premier Redford said the province is already in discussions with Markin and Pure North on the research the program has gathered over recent years in terms of preventive health care.
?My hope is that as we move forward with family care clinics in a multidisciplinary approach to health care and preventive services that we?re going to be able to use not only the data but some of the services that have been developed through Pure North,? said Redford.
Reports on the program?s findings and possible savings to the province should be made available in coming months, said Markin. Though he did offer a rosy prediction.
?I think for every dollar that we spend that the province is going to return at least $20,? he said. ?We spend $40 million, there?s $500 million to $800 million they?re going to save.?
In the short term, a program specifically for seniors will start in mid-February with the goal to help more than 20,000 seniors, low income or not, said Markin.
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