How the ER can be improved for people with disabilities

 Last Friday, I had to go to the ER because of a breathing issue. I should quickly point out that it wasn’t related to Covid or the vaccine I received last week. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I use a portable ventilator at all times to help me breathe.

Incentivizing Ontario doctors to offer “after hours” care did not decrease emergency room visits

 By: Tara Kiran You’re getting home after a long day at work and the cough that has been bugging you just doesn’t seem to be letting up. Your muscles ache, you’ve got chills and you hear a slight wheeze when you breathe out. What do you do? Do you head

It’s Time to Include Dental Health in the Healthcare System

 Canada’s most vulnerable populations have the highest rates of dental pain, decay, disease and the worst access to care. There are many reasons why some Canadians choose not to go to the dentist, but a new report released recently from the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) found that cost

New Hospital Funding Model is a Leap of Faith

 Activity-based funding may discharge patients from hospital ‘quicker but sicker’ Most Canadians probably don’t realize that health care in Canada is quietly undergoing a major transformation in funding that could significantly impact patients.  Three provinces—Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia—are implementing a new funding model for hospitals and other provinces are

Learning How to Die – Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

 In his latest thoughtful, moving book Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters in the End the doctor and writer Atul Gawande tells the achingly sad story of Sara. In the prime of life and while pregnant with her first child, Sara was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Doctors induced labour

Media Coverage of Youth Suicide Linked to Increased Emergency Room Visits for Mental Health Distress

 Outreach efforts following high profile suicides can save lives In the last few years, two high profile youth suicides in the Ottawa region garnered tremendous media attention and, as a new study suggests, resulted in increased emergency room visits by youth for mental health distress. First was the suicide of

Prescription Drug Costs Hurting Canadians: Why the Public Health System Needs to Evolve

 This week, health ministers from across Canada will gather in Banff to discuss issues of common interest and explore opportunities to work together. Pharmacare--a program that would see all prescription drug costs covered through a publicly funded system instead of out-of-pocket--will almost certainly be on the agenda. Decision makers often

The Importance of Follow-Up Care After An Emergency Room Visit

 Why Too Many Canadians Are Falling Through The Cracks Television shows have popularized the theatrical entrance into the hospital emergency room: patients racing down hallways on gurneys with worried doctors and nurses running alongside--great drama. How most patients leave the emergency room isn’t quite as dramatic, but the facts tell

Why Canada Shouldn’t Compete with the U.S. for the Worst Performing Health System in the Developed World

 B.C. Court Challenge Looming The latest Commonwealth Study ranked Canada’s health care system a dismal second to last in a list of 11 major industrialized countries. We had the dubious distinction of beating out only the Americans. This latest poor result is already being used by those bent on further

BC Fails to Improve Primary Health Care After More Than a Billion Dollar Investment

 Increased doctor incentives do not improve access to care Since 2006, British Columbia has spent more than a billion dollars to improve primary health care.  So have BC patients benefited from such a massive investment?  Sadly, it appears not. Primary care -- access to doctors and nurses for general health