MSM lies by ommission

[Syne]

From a leftist source:

A lack of cardiac surgery facilities may have contributed to the deaths of four babies at Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s hospital over the past month, a South Australian parliamentary committee has been told, prompting calls for an inquiry.
...
“It is shameful that Adelaide is the only mainland city in the land without such a unit, but it is even more disgusting that babies are allegedly dying because of it.”

Bonaros said Svigos had indicated the deaths might have been “avoidable” had the surgery unit been available.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...or-inquiry

And then the whole story:

How Victoria's lockdown killed four newborn babies: Distraught families told that their children were not permitted to enter Victoria for emergency heart surgery before they died
...
South Australia does not have a cardiac unit for children meaning seriously ill newborns with heart issues are normally taken to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital - but this option has been ruled out due to the pandemic, an inquiry heard on Tuesday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...abies.html

And what else did Associate Professor John Svigos say, that the MSM omitted?

Associate Professor John Svigos told the South Australian parliament's public health services committee that Melbourne's lockdown meant transfer was not available.

'In our current COVID situation... the usual process of referral to the Melbourne cardiac unit is no longer tenable, and referral to Sydney is on a case-by-case basis,' he said.

And Victoria's response:

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a press conference on Wednesday that the children were not kept away due to lockdown.

'I don't think it is a matter of restrictions,' he said, adding 'there was a choice not at our end, but the other end for them not to be sent'.

'I can only go with what I'm been told. I don't think it was a "you can't come here" type of deal'.

The Daily Mail article goes on to explain that Adelaide has wanted more resources, including a cardiac unit, for quite some time. So it really sounds like they used Covid lockdown as an excuse to justify their need for more resources at the cost of human lives. Another perverse incentive of Covid causing more and needless death.

[C C]

[...] The Daily Mail article goes on to explain that Adelaide has wanted more resources, including a cardiac unit, for quite some time. So it really sounds like they used Covid lockdown as an excuse to justify their need for more resources at the cost of human lives. Another perverse incentive of Covid causing more and needless death.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...abies.html

[...] The inquiry heard the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital being described as 'second class'.  ... Mulholland explained it was common for junior doctors to be found 'sleeping on the floor because of a lack of resources', the INDAILY reported. 'Essentially there is not enough staff, not enough resourcing, not enough allied health to run many of the services of paediatric medicine in this state,' she said.

[...] One year earlier hospital staff called for a an upgrade to the chronic lack of paediatric cardiac services available at the hospital but the business case was rejected because it was not seen to be economically viable. ... An independent report concluded the number of likely cases would not be enough to justify $6million set-up cost, or keep the skill levels of surgeons up to standard.

[...] After sitting through the alarming testimony, committee chairwoman Connie Bonaros said the situation is 'utterly unacceptable' and 'national disgrace'. She said babies were dying entirely due to penny-pinching...

Peculiar. Neighbor country New Zealand has rural healthcare problems in terms of services, equipment, and finding staff. But Adelaide is a large city  -- its population still can't produce enough emergency cases per year to justify the cost? 

Australia supposedly spends less than half per person what the US does on healthcare (link below). Do fewer expert or specialized surgeons, less equipment and resources contribute to part of that or is this women's/children's hospital purely an anomaly? I guess the portrayal in the article (via the outrage) leans toward the latter.

Health care costs by country
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countr...by-country

Aside from US hospitals just laying on more expenses and charges when a patient is insured as opposed to less when they're paying out of pocket, without it...  Lack of caps on litigation (where applicable) is potentially a significant contributor to health costs in the US. This paper dates back to 2004, though...  

Medical malpractice litigation raises health-care cost, reduces access, and lowers quality of care
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15500024/