Tepid. Great adjective for our AB government. They are tepid.

It really does seem as though there are a multitude of connections between this company, ASG and our government. Good for AHS for trying to clarify what was in the public interest. For government to fire the CEO and stop that investigation seems.... 'odd'... and self protective.

Perhaps I'm too lost in this but I am shocked (and dismayed) by the lack of incredibly strong opposition to this. There is a massive COI here. Nobody should be letting government get away with this.

Yes - they ordered the takeover of CSF procurement by government and for AHS to cease and desist in checking the CSF pricing structures....

Absolutely. And worth noting that in October 2024 the AB government took over sole procurement of CSF's from AHS. And the allegged corruption? The procurement of CSF's of course...

If true, I don't think I've seen anything worse in AB healthcare. It also underscores the point that private care cannot compete with public unless it is given a leg up. For the sake of all of us we should be using these $ to make the public system better.

This is an excellent op-ed about the AB pandemic report from two people who really know. "Some statements in the report don’t hold up to a basic reality check." All true. This report should be withdrawn.

Well... I guess... If at first you don't succeed...

Not surprisingly, I completely support these goals. A short thread (can't help myself). I recall many years ago advocating for a national physician supply and demand database with Geny and the AFMC to run and use this data. AFMC are the combined medical schools. /1

A warning about declining healthcare from the AMA. Once again nothing from government. The major problem with AB healthcare? Lack of Access. Lack of healthcare workers. Not poor organization....

Nice, short article about the shortcomings of the AB covid report. In a first year university class it would get a failing grade. Perhaps that's why we see so few degrees in our cabinet?

It is interesting how the 'Trump Threats' break into those with immediate problems and some like this with a longer time horizon. Public health does not easily stay colored in between map borders. For the safety of us all we need organizations like WHO.

This is an interesting article. Common sense I guess. However, it is hard to think of a more compelling point to prove that the AB healthcare system has failed. Like abandoning a sinking ship - look after the sickest.....

Can I agree with this 200%? Long term the quality of life in Canada is going to be about the quality of people we have here. This is a golden opportunity to recruit some outstanding people to Canada. Recruitment always takes a push and a pull. Trump has helped us by giving the push.

I'm going to use this reply as a stepping stone to something I think we need to do less of. While my leanings are similar to this poster I actually think that this is just as much of a problem as what 'we' complain about. Hear me out please. /1

This is worrisome. Having the US pull out of WHO is a major setback for world public health (including the US). This, at a time of increased zoonotic disease risk puts us all in peril. Imagine H5N1 in a world with reduced PH capacity. The rest of world needs to step up.

Forgive me for being cynical here. I truly understand that sometimes job cuts can be part of a reorganization that increases work output. But the history of Canadian healthcare is government rationing healthcare in an ill-guided attempt to reduce cost. Delayed care is more expensive care.

Medical misinformation is a societal threat. We should treat it accordingly. Good editorial from the Lancet.

I just attended a talk (by a real expert) on water insecurity in southern AB. To hear that the headwater glaciers of the Bow (Bow and Peyto) are likely to be gone in 10 years makes you sit up and think. We. Can't. Afford. This. Government.

It will be interesting to see the gov decision on this. Let me just say that in all areas of medicine, prevention is far cheaper than treatment. Vaccines prevent incredible costs in the acute care system. This should be a no-brainer. But I guess, therein lies the rub...

This is a really important perspective on our healthcare system and how it compares to peers. Key findings: 1) Quality is good. 2) Access is poor 3) Affordability is poor -we have too much private pay for the system to be equitable. /1

A fascinating read. Declining life expectancy for many complex reasons. However, one that shines through is the ineffectiveness of public health measures over the last 20 years. Is that a surprise when health is considered a personal responsibility and to be paid for privately?

Very important post here. In Canada we have 2 problems: 1. Not enough MD's 2. Not enough family MD's Medical students choose their specialty at the end of med school. They currently could all go into family medicine if they wanted and that would leave us only with a specialty problem. /1

A very good analysis here. In my post on the other site I missed talking about the virtual care provisions.

For a change. Astrophotography. Calgary has had almost complete clouds for 2 months. I've been working on a 6 panel mosaic of the Heart and Soul nebula in the northern skies. Here is the data so far - I think I'll collect a little more.'

@djclimenhaga.bsky.social gets it quite right. The UCP should look in the mirror. They keep fishing for the 'right' leader to do the right things - why don't they do them themselves? It's not as if a whole bunch of people haven't pointed out what the right things are. Just do it...

These are the chickens coming home to roost. For 30 years demography has predicted a tidal wave of people needing healthcare. For 30 years governments have been playing a delay and ignore game. "We can get away with fewer HCW's - technology, lower taxes ...". The chickens have returned.

Interesting story here. Many levels. A short thread about one of them. In brief, there is (yet another) crisis in trying to keep hospital ER's open in Canada (SK here). The proximate cause is a shortage of MD's to staff them. Something we've discussed. /1

This is an interesting approach and one worth thinking about. A few thoughts. Clearly the goal of this is to make medical practice more enticing to new young physicians. Will it work? We had some friends over for dinner last night and spoke about this a bit. /1

As they say - necessary but not sufficient. Nothing will improve without the MD's and that is what this helps. In addition we need: 1. Teams - funded by prov 2. MD accountability to the system 3. More beds 4. A common EHR platform Let's not stop here.

Gives me chills. I can imagine this happening next in Alberta. Similar politics, heavily agricultural and a virulent case of anti-science.

Interesting. With the rapidly changing picture of H5N1 now is the time to seriously look at vaccines. Traditional ones are made in eggs which are likely to be in short supply with 'bird flu'. Makes this mRNA candidate all the more compelling.

Abject failure. Prioritizing industry and economic concerns over public health. That sure seems familiar to me....

Critically important. We need a health system with easily accessible data for *all* patients. You'd think this would be simple to do these days. Its not. Why? Largely private health companies and government afraid to legislate it.

Merry Xmas! To family MD's in AB. This is heartfelt from me but also government appears to be stepping up. Lets see what exactly is in this later today but it sounds good so far. Just don't understand what took so long....

Instead the US might like to be the 11th province? They'd save massively on healthcare. And no more school (or CEO) shootings... Trump could be premier....

An interesting thought exercise. The old saying - "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity" springs to my mind. There are players who want more private care. I suspect politicians just want to pay less and have been seduced by them. Instead they should listen to experts.

This is correct. It is one of the answers to our healthcare system. What we need: 1. Family MD/team for all 2. Increases acute care beds (helps fix ER) 3. Integrated provincial waitlists and surgical access 4. Integrated information systems across all providers 5. Access, access, access

Excellent points @ritamc.bsky.social! Folks, in our current shortage of MD's (many types) we have vested interests trying to come up with "innovative" solutions. While I'm a fan of innovation, most of these are not that. They simply increase the bottom line of the vested interests.

What a wonderful post from a PV expert. It is just *so* nice to read the thoughts of actual experts. Thank you @angierasmussen.bsky.social

Such a good thread. Please read it. When I think back on those (recent) times, my mind goes to the deep, visceral fear that we were going to run out of ICU beds during delta. To the abuse suffered by frontline workers trying to save lives. Not to whether you could attend a hockey game...

Interesting. A 'freedom' score for countries. Defined as the absence of coercive restraint. Out of 165 countries Canada ranks #11, better than the US and UK at 17. Perhaps someone could mention this to the UCP and our #Ditchbillies? www.cato.org/human-freedo...

Trump: 'What do you have to lose? Take it.' Turns out you have a lot to lose by not listening to experts. In 2020 prior to C-19 vaccines we had a lot of people dying from Covid. Not a lot of treatment options. From some basic biology it was suggested that HQC could be useful. /1

Too put this even more starkly. Our government can find $29M to patrol the AB/US border (for 3 lb of fentanyl). But they can't find 1% of this amount to alleviate the suffering of 2500 Albertans. Every year.... Our priorities are misplaced.

Fascinating article regarding the AB governments mismanagement of healthcare. A short thread to explain some of the complexities here. First. Is it a problem? Well, yes it is. Hip and Knee replacements are common and a solve a source of misery for many. We need to do more. /1

Demography strikes Cdn healthcare again. The best time to have acted on this was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

We. Don't. Need. This. Right. Now.

The alt med 'industry' has been larger than the medical one for some time now. The hysterical cry of "being in big pharma's pocket" is typically projection at its finest. (In a few, rare, cases it has been true.) Those profiting the most are now being put in positions of influence.

We don't always get what the UK does. However, we often see it several weeks later in AB. I'm sure our government has been preparing things by opening up beds and encouraging vaccination holiday messages. We wouldn't want to walk into this with our eyes closed would we?

Of course the frustration of many of us, who cry into the abyss, is that this was clearly enunciated decades ago. Healthcare demand is dictated by demography. It's not as if we didn't know that a 'grey wave' was coming was it? Governments have been rewarded for deferring costs to the next...