Can we develop wait lists for public health issues?
Nancy C. Edwards and Barbara L. Riley Nancy Edwards is from the School of Nursing and Community Health Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont. Barbara Riley is from the Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ont. Correspondence to: Dr. Nancy C. Edwards, University of Ottawa, School of Nursing, 451 1118 Smyth Rd., Ottawa ON K1H 8M5; fax 613 562-5658; nancy.edwards{at}uottawa.ca’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> Wait lists have gained sharp prominence within the landscape of health care issues. Stories and statistics of how the common citizen has suffered and sometimes died while waiting for surgical and other medical procedures are legion, and they describe a failure of the health care system in a way that is easy to understand and that demands prompt and definitive attention. However, there are also wait lists for public health services, and they rarely receive attention. These wait lists involve populations of citizens who have to wait (and s
