Health Committee on July 6th, 2020

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Many constituents in my riding wanted to use masks in the beginning, but it was suggested that wearing a mask in public would instill fear or a racist backlash. Since Dr. Tam would have known that masks were an added level of protection right from the start, why do you think she didn't insist they be used? Do you think she was pressured by the WHO or other political stakeholders?

[Mario Possamai]

That's a great question. It's one that I've wondered about. What I've seen is that PHAC's advice has been in lockstep with the WHO right from the word go. There has not been any critical thinking, any critical evaluation, on whether that's the right advice.

I'll give you another example, if I may. The WHO China mission, on February 28 this year, said that China was able to eliminate health care worker infections, but they didn't explain how. You have to go right to the back, to the fine print, to see that they did it because they ordered everyone to wear N95s. Now, that's a grey standard for the WHO, and I hope it's one the committee exposes if you get the right WHO witness. I am disappointed that PHAC didn't have the critical mindset to look at that and say, “Why was China able to protect its health care workers?”

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

I know when we had PHAC come by, we realized that they weren't even rotating our stockpile. How do we hold these people at PHAC responsible? Should there be an independent body doing a performance review, as you mentioned, on a yearly basis or something?

[Mario Possamai]

You know, when Justice Campbell gave the advice on setting up PHAC and Dr. Tam's office, he felt, and I agreed with him, that we had it covered, because it gave that office the independent ability to speak out on health risks. We thought that if there was a shortage of masks, they would speak out and would do so in a timely manner. It hasn't happened.

Parliament, in my view, should really require certification every year, in depth, on whether we're ready for such an existential risk.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Thank you very much.

I have a quick question for Medtronic. I read in your May company report that you had a 26% decrease in your first-quarter revenue due to COVID-19. Apparently the cardiac and vascular group saw the steepest decline, at 34%. We know that many procedures are being deferred right now in order to ensure that our health care system is not overwhelmed. Your falling revenue number suggests quite a high rate. What do you think that will cost in Canadian health outcomes?

[Patrick Hupé]

It's very difficult to predict this cost, but we know that the recovery seems to have been going fairly well across the country for a few weeks now. Obviously, following that, some urgent cardiac surgeries have taken place. Other operations are slowly but surely starting to resume. In this regard, it's very difficult for me to give a figure.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

We've heard that many hospitals—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mrs. Jansen. We'll go now to Ms. Sidhu.

Ms. Sidhu, please go ahead for five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Chair. Thank you to all witnesses for being here with us.

Patrick, I really want to say thank you to Medtronic. I had a great conversation with the Medtronic president, Neil Fraser. As you know, this is a very unprecedented time we are facing, really for the first time ever. I want to thank very much those who are doing great work, especially Medtronic from Brampton South, helping not just Canadians but people around the world as well.

In May Medtronic announced an expansion of the Medtronic insurance program, with a new option to support diabetes customers. As you know, Brampton has the highest rates of diabetes. How has the change assisted some of the most vulnerable customers during this pandemic? Can you elaborate on that?

[Patrick Hupé]

Can you repeat the last portion of your question, Ms. Sidhu, please?

Thank you very much.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

You were helping diabetic patients in Brampton. Can you tell us how you were helping there?

Also, the federal government has invested $250 million into virtual care during COVID-19. You said in your statement that virtual care was used by more than 50% of patients at the Peter Munk Centre. Brampton Civic Hospital is overcrowded, overwhelmed. How can Brampton Civic Hospital benefit from your telehealth program?

[Patrick Hupé]

Thank you for your question.

First, we have a team called Integrated Health Solutions, whose efforts are optimizing clinical corridors and clinical care. This allows us to identify patient cohorts for health care professionals. Then, based on objective criteria, the programs in place and the indications for our products, we can select the right patients and see how we can support them. So we have a whole team that can support hospitals and clinical teams across the country to ensure that these programs are beneficial for the diabetic population in Canada.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

That's great.

Would you like to talk about creating an app to help front-line medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic? How has that been successful in assisting front-line workers?

[Patrick Hupé]

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're talking about, but we currently have projects aimed at optimizing the use of personal protective equipment for certain interventions. With the personnel who must be on site for certain interventions, we're trying to coordinate the installation of this equipment to ensure that it's used properly. In particular, we run simulations using algorithms to support clinical teams in this regard.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you.

What is Medtronic's current production capacity? Has Medtronic reached its production goal for June 2020?

[Patrick Hupé]

Absolutely. You're talking about ventilators, right?

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Yes.

[Patrick Hupé]

Yes. In fact, we are in the process of increasing production fivefold. As I was saying to Mr. Longfield earlier, we're talking about highly sophisticated equipment that requires a lot of technology and a lot of parts, depending on the supply chain. Despite all the challenges that this may pose, we are well on our way to achieving what we said a few weeks ago, which is to increase our ventilator production fivefold.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, do I have more time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

You have half a minute.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Then I will pass.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Ms. Sidhu.

I advise the committee that we have a hard cap on the meeting facilities at 25 minutes after the hour. If we are extremely ruthless in the timing, we can get everybody's questions in.

We will carry on now with Ms. Kusie for five minutes.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Normally, I serve on the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. The way things are done in this committee is different.

My first question is for you, Mr. Hupé. Generally speaking, have you noticed a change in global supply chains?

[Patrick Hupé]

Perhaps we've been lucky with supply chains because, so far, we haven't had any major problems in that area.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Okay.

Does that include medical equipment?