Waiting for a response?

If you have not yet heard from the medical office where you have been referred, like thousands of others, your referral may not have been processed correctly. The question now being asked is, “Why did this occur?” This is the something the Health Quality Council of Alberta is going to investigate.

A must-read story from Global News Toronto. 

If you have not yet heard about Joshua Morven and Sarah Bright and the very special day they had thanks to members of the Vancouver General Hospital, you can read about it here.  Be warned, you may want to have some Kleenex nearby.

Thoughts about Alberta’s Healthcare

In this TikTok video, “Boots on the Ground” looks at the state of healthcare in Alberta as the provincial government privatizes healthcare. He describes what is happening in Alberta as “playing politics with healthcare” and notes that the outcome can be people getting hurt and/or dying.

Healthcare in Rural Canada

“Community hospitals across remote parts of Canada are facing challenges from staffing to funding.”

Here is a news story by CTV that highlights some of the realities associated healthcare in rural communities in Canada.

Alberta’s healthcare: How are things going?

Read Jen Lee’s article for the answer.

Public to Private to Public?

Alberta’s medical laboratories have gone from public, to private, and back to public in less than one year. What has this back and forth action cost Albertans? This and other questions are explored in this CBC report.

Short on Time?

Image from pixy.org

Even if you are scrambling to get everything done on your To-Do List and think you cannot possibly do another thing, please consider taking a few minutes to read this article by David Climenhaga. It will be time well spent.

Amplifying the Patient’s Voice

Martha’s Rule is a new policy that aims to give patients and the patient’s families greater voice in the the care their loved one is receiving without the fear of retribution or the like. Had this rule existed in 2021, perhaps Martha’s outcome would have been very different.

As Martha’s mother said, “‘I desperately wish that I’d felt able, with no fear of being the target of ill-temper or condescension, to ask for a second opinion from outside the liver team when I became concerned about Martha’s deterioration.’”

Click here to read about Martha’s Rule.

How to Fix Healthcare?

Healthcare is a concern for many people. In this X thread, Dr. Meddings identifies what is needed to improve healthcare in Alberta. According to him, “[t]here is nothing magical about how to fix our healthcare system. There is no ‘private’ in here and it is all currently doable given political will.”