ichannel, a national television information service, has launched a unique website designed to help newcomers to Canada access much-needed medical care.
The site, http://ymoyl.ichannel.ca, is a companion to ichannel’s ground-breaking documentary Your Money Or Your Life, which sheds light on the Canadian health care system’s failure to meet the needs of immigrants and refugees.
In addition to featuring the complete documentary, the site offers a wealth of complementary materials, including web-exclusive interviews with people like midwife Manavi Handa, who speaks about the shocking lack of care women in Canada receive when they lack health insurance. She recalls, heartbreakingly, the case of one uninsured pregnant woman whose infant died – possibly because a hospital refused her timely care. “She will always feel like her baby died because she didn’t have money,” Ms. Handa says.
In addition, the new site boasts a first-of-its-kind interactive “clinic finder” designed to help new Canadians locate medical clinics that will provide them with treatment, for little or no money, even if they lack a provincial health card.
“Our research on the documentary revealed an overwhelming need for such a resource,” says the film’s producer Kevin O’Keefe (Milk War, Bad Habits). “We felt it wasn’t enough to shine a light on the problems new Canadians face accessing health care: we want to contribute to solving those problems.”
Many immigrants and refugees, Mr. O’Keefe explains, don’t know how to find practitioners who will treat the uninsured, or provide care under the IFH (Interim Federal Health plan), which covers medical expenses for refugees. Exclusive to the new website, the comprehensive “clinic finder” enables users to identify immigrant- and refugee-friendly doctors and clinics anywhere in Canada, simply by entering a postal code.
First broadcast in November 2012, Your Money Or Your Life powerfully makes the case that new arrivals to Canada are being let down by our health care system. ichannel is proud to launch ymoyl.ichannel.ca – a valuable resource for new Canadians.
ichannel will present a special encore presentation of Your Money Or Your Life on Monday June 17 at 9 pm and Midnight ET, to coincide with the National Day of Action organized by Canadian Doctors For Refugee Care, an association of health care providers committed to speaking out against federal government cuts to medical care for refugees.
The documentary film Your Money Or Your Life was produced with the support of the Canada Media Fund.
The complementary website was created with the support of the CMF’s Convergent Digital Incentive Program.
