Owner says his company doesn’t violate Canada Health Act
The grand opening of the controversial Copeman Healthcare Centre in downtown Calgary September 22 was marked by a host of protesters who condemned the private operation as a violation of the Canada Health Act.
Before the protest the Friends of Medicare held a news conference where executive director and former Alberta NDP MLA David Eggen outlined the organization’s concerns about the clinic. Eggen cited the shortage of medical professionals in Alberta and said the federal and provincial governments haven’t shown leadership on “where our public health system is going to go…. How is it possible that a private clinic would open in the city of Calgary right here in Stephen Harper’s backyard without having somehow the tacit approval of the government to do so?” Eggen called on the federal and provincial health ministers to investigate the clinic.
Don Copeman the clinic’s owner and founder also attended the news conference and it didn’t take long for medicare activists and federal election candidates to get in his face shouting “health not wealth” and accusing him of poaching doctors from the public system for profit. Teale Phelps-Bondaroff the NDP candidate for Calgary West confronted Copeman and told him he was “only providing a service for the rich and those who can pay you.” Copeman however said that’s not the case. “The people that come to our clinic aren’t all rich — at all” Copeman said. “The people that come to our clinic have one thing in common and that is that they care about their health care and they’re willing to invest in it.”
The Copeman Centre sells memberships in its “elite program” for $3900 per adult in the first year and $2900 for each year afterwards. The fees are tax-deductible. Copeman told reporters his clinics (the original Copeman Centre is in Vancouver) centralize different services instead of sending patients to kinesiologists and dietitians around the city. “All we’re doing is we’re bringing all those professionals together under one roof and under one plan” said Copeman. “That’s better health care. That’s an innovation.”
Copeman also requested that the Friends of Medicare stop saying his clinics violate the Canada Health Act. “We’ve spent a lot of time making sure we don’t violate any principles of the Canada Health Act let alone the letter of the law” said Copeman adding that he’s “also a defender of medicare” who wants to see a strong public system.
