U.S. senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says Americans have much to learn from health systems outside their borders, including Canada’s.

“We do not in the United States do a good job in looking around the rest of the world and asking the questions that have to be asked,” he said Saturday during a tour of three Toronto hospitals.

The independent senator from Vermont has been crusading for the creation of a single-payer health system in the United States, much like Canada’s.

He told reporters that his most important takeaway from the tour is that Canada’s health system is innovative, contrary to what he hears from U.S. critics.

“What we heard was incredibly innovative. In fact, they are proud to be doing things that are leading the world. I think it is not a fair argument to say that the system here is not a strong system and innovative system.”

Sanders said he was particularly impressed by his tour of Sinai Health System’s state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit. Built three years ago, it has separate rooms for each infant, which helps with infection control, privacy and noise.

Pediatrician-in-chief Dr. Shoo Lee described a new model of care he has developed in which the parents of critically ill and premature infants serve as primary caregivers.

“The nurses’ job is to teach the parent, but not to look after the baby,” the physician explained, adding that patient outcomes are much improved. The new model of care improves bonding and makes for a smoother transition home, he added.

The unit focuses on high-risk pregnancies and care of the unborn infant. Just a few weeks ago, surgery was performed in utero on an infant that would otherwise have died, Sanders was told.

Sanders has received much help in his efforts to reform his country’s health system from Canadian doctor Danielle Martin, a vice-president at Women’s College Hospital. She gave a speech at a news conference in Washington in September when he introduced the Medicare for All bill, aimed at creating universal access to health care.

At Sanders’s invitation, Martin appeared before a U.S. Senate subcommittee three years ago and deftly answered tough questions about Canada’s health system. A video of her appearance, posted on Facebook by Sanders, has had more than 30 million views.

At Women’s College, Martin and Premier Kathleen Wynne showed Sanders the hospital’s Crossroads Clinic for refugees.

Patient Samira Nafe, a refugee who came to Canada in 2012 from Eritrea, told Sanders she had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

“She’s getting treatment for free?” Sanders asked to nods of affirmation.

Dr. Meb Rashid, who runs the clinic, said Nafe’s experience shows the benefits of preventative care: “We were able to diagnose something before it became a problem.”

“You’re saving money,” Sanders remarked.

His tour of the hospital also took a stop at its billing office, where he seemed surprised to hear only one person worked.

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In a roundtable discussion with health professionals at Women’s College, Sanders noted that 28 million Americans have no health insurance and many more are under-insured. Because sick people have high deductibles and are charged co-payments, many opt to go without care, he said. They end up getting even sicker down the road and when they do eventually get care it is so expensive some have to mortgage their homes or go bankrupt.

He pointed out that it costs twice as much to provide a person with health care in the United States than it does in Canada. Extra administrative costs associated with private insurance are a factor.

Sanders also visited the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital. There, he was told by medical director Dr. Barry Rubin that there was no waiting list at all for patients needing urgent surgery.

Rubin explained that patients at the centre get high-quality health care from world-leading experts.

“Nobody thinks about the expense they are going to incur,” Rubin said.

Sanders met with a patient who had recently undergone bypass surgery as well as a procedure to correct leaky heart valves. Sanders asked him how Canadians felt about paying more in taxes than Americans but not having to pay private health insurance.

“The good thing is I have not had to worry about what this is costing,” the patient said. “I know it is expensive.”

The patient congratulated Sanders on his efforts to get single-payer health care introduced into the United States.

“Many of my American friends say it’s a mess,” the patient said of the U.S. health system.

Sanders acknowledged the Canadian health system is not perfect, noting that public coverage of drugs is limited and dentistry, for the most part, is not covered.

Sanders will speak at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto on Sunday. The event is sold out.

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