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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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MONTREAL - The incoming head of the Canadian Medical Association says private health-care has a role to play in improving access to the public system.

Dr. Robert Ouellet told the 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."

Ouellet, who runs several private radiology clinics in Quebec, said Canadians must "pull their heads out of the sand" and realize that private health care exists almost everywhere in the world.

He said Canadian health-care costs have quadrupled in the last 20 years and the country's doctor-to-patient ratio has plummeted.

But he also stressed that he was not advocating the privatization of the Canadian health-care system.

The 62-year-old from Longueuil, Que. will be sworn in Wednesday evening.