The incoming president of Canada's largest association of physicians, Robert Ouellet, today implored medical professionals and policymakers in his country to "pull their heads out of the sand" and acknowledge that theirs is "one of the most costly and least efficient health systems of any industrialized country."

Reports The Canadian Press:

Dr. Robert Ouellet told the (Canadian Medical Association)'s annual meeting in Montreal that he envisions a mixed public and private health-care system in Canada.

"The fact is that the private system exists, and like it or not, it is here to stay," Ouellet told hundreds of doctors gathered in a downtown hotel ballroom.

"We need to accommodate it in order for the public system to prosper."