During her campaign for leadership of the UCP party, Danielle Smith made clear her plans to overhaul Alberta Health Services (AHS). She threatened to fire the entire AHS board and appoint an interim health commissioner reporting directly to herself and the health minister. While concentrating power into her hands, she says she wants to decentralize health careContinue reading “Alberta Health Services needs strengthening, not dismantling”
Category Archives: Health Care
Primary health care in crisis
Primary care is the corner stone of a high-functioning health care system. Yet, many Albertans are struggling to find a family doctor, or if they are lucky enough to have a family doctor, to get an appointment in a timely fashion. In response to this crisis, the UCP government announced the Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health CareContinue reading “Primary health care in crisis”
Rethinking our understanding of mental health and mental illness
Canadians were in a mental health crisis well before the COVID-19 pandemic. But as with many other things, the pandemic served to shine a spotlight on the depth and breath of this serious issue. According to Statistics Canada, a shocking 1 in 3 Canadians suffers from mental illness during their lifetime. Five to 10 percentContinue reading “Rethinking our understanding of mental health and mental illness”
Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic
It has been two years since an invisible but formidable foe shook up our lives. Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, we have all learned a great many things. We learned to bake bread, sew masks, use videoconferencing not only to get through our workday but also toContinue reading “Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Addressing anti-Indigenous racism in our health care system
Joyce Echaquan, Gordon Sinclair, Jordan River Anderson – our health care system failed these Canadians in the worst possible way. All three suffered unduly and died within a health care system that did not give them the care they deserved simply because of their Indigenous identity. Their powerful stories are not isolated anecdotes but partContinue reading “Addressing anti-Indigenous racism in our health care system“
Effective Policy Needed to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms
Many of us welcomed in the New Year with a glass of our favourite alcoholic beverage, even if in muted celebration this year. Alcohol is an ubiquitous and accepted part of our culture, associated with times of festivity, socializing with friends and family and relaxing after a hard day at work. While there are social,Continue reading “Effective Policy Needed to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms”
The opioid crisis rages on
In the last five years, there has been an alarming increase in deaths related to opioid overdoses. Over 22,000 Canadians – the majority of them in the prime of their lives – have succumbed to fatal overdoses since 2016. These numbers are comparable to lives lost in Canada due to COVID-19 infections, yet we areContinue reading “The opioid crisis rages on”
Resilience and self-reliance key to pandemic recovery
COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Canada were reduced in recent weeks and Canadians have felt frustrated and helpless at being asked to wait. We have watched with envy as other countries manufactured vaccines and inoculated their citizens. Canada was similarly vulnerable at the beginning of the pandemic when countries scrambled to procure adequate supplies of masks,Continue reading “Resilience and self-reliance key to pandemic recovery”
Privatizing health care is no panacea
Alberta’s UCP government is looking to privatization as a cure for what ails Alberta’s public health care system. Bill 30 allows for-profit corporations to bill the government directly for medical services and 30% of surgeries conducted in Alberta will be done in private facilities by 2023. Despite ample evidence suggesting the opposite, the Kenney governmentContinue reading “Privatizing health care is no panacea”
National Pharmacare: A prescription for change
Canada is the only developed country with universal health care but no national pharmacare program. In the recent throne speech, the federal Liberals pledged to change that. But Canadians have heard this before from our government with little action to date. It is time that we hold them to their promise. Drugs account for theContinue reading “National Pharmacare: A prescription for change”
The Engaged Citizen 