Solving Canada’s Opioid Epidemic Must Include Tackling What Got Us into the Predicament in the First Place

 By all accounts we are in the midst of a deadly drug epidemic so severe and widespread few people in North America will remain untouched by it.  In case you think I’m exaggerating, right now we have probably the highest rates of narcotic abuse and deaths in modern history. Critics

Albertans Must Get Inventive in Healthcare as Price of Oil Slides Further

 As world oil prices and the Canadian dollar slide perilously, Albertans must become more inventive and rigorous in managing our costs – and our expectations – especially in high-cost areas like infrastructure, education and health care. Health care is the biggest challenge. We cannot turn off the population’s health care

A New Health Accord Needs to Include Better Planning

 Why a new health accord needs to include better planning for health human resources. There is growing talk of a new Health Accord between the federal government and the provinces and territories. This is such good news -- great news, in fact. If I were asked to have one thing

What Should be Covered by our Publicly Funded Healthcare System?

 Patients and doctors need to learn the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want.’ All across Canada provincial governments are grappling with ever growing healthcare demands in the face of shrinking resources.  Our enviable publicly funded health system is now well into a downward spiral of unenviable disrepair.  As patients are becoming

Rising Rates of Kidney Failure Signal Need for Public Health Strategy

 As many as 40 thousand people in Canada are affected by kidney failure – a problem that is increasing across the country, with significant consequences for our health system.   A report released this month from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy projects an increase of 68 per cent in

Dear Health Minister Philpott — We Need Leadership In Medicare Restored

 Dear Minister Philpott, It is fantastic news that as a family doctor you are our next federal health minister.  You will know very well that our healthcare system shows its age.  Born in the middle of the 20th century, its primary focus on doctors and hospitals is outmoded as technology

Current Patchwork of Funding Policies for Children’s Medicine in Canada Needs Critical Attention

 You are the parent of a sick child.  You have a limited budget and you must decide to buy the medicine the doctor prescribed for your child or provide food and shelter for your family instead.  What do you do? Sadly this dilemma is one too many Canadians are facing.

Pharmacare is for Kids Too

 Written by Avram Denburg and Steve Morgan You are the parent of a sick child. You have a limited budget and you must decide to buy the medicine the doctor prescribed for your child or provide food and shelter for your family instead. What do you do? Sadly this dilemma is one too

Are we finally in a health election campaign?

 Why more affordable medications for Canadians should be an all-party priority in this federal election. It's become almost a matter of faith: health and health care are perennially among the top priorities for Canadians, but are nearly invisible in election platforms and debates. This observation has led health care providers, health care

We Have Built a Sickness Care System Rather Than A Health System

 We have designed that system for the convenience of practitioners, not patients: Convocation speech delivered to graduating MDs at the University of Manitoba on the receipt of an honorary doctorate. Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, distinguished guests, soon-to-be MDs and their deeply indebted family members. I’m touched and humbled to receive an

Five challenges for bending the health care cost curve in Canada

 By Greg Marchildon and Livio Di Matteo Why health reform remains a challenge Canadian economists received a pleasant surprise this year: expenditure growth on public healthcare in Canada finally appears to be slowing down. However, it is unclear if this slowdown is the result of explicit success in sustainably bending the cost-curve

To the Editor of Ottawa Life

 Re: Report Card on Wait Times in Canada Omits Important Developments (published on July 3, 2014) Doctors Don Dick and Linda Woodhouse quite rightly note the great work Alberta has been undertaking to improve the standardization, collection and utilization of access and other health system performance related data. However, I

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