AHS Podcasts

“Stress during this time is normal. The key is not to get overwhelmed. Get trusted sources for information.” Advice from AHS Addiction and Mental Health Provincial Medical Director Dr. Nicholas Mitchell.

Dr. Nicholas Etches, Medical Officer of Health, answers some common questions about the current COVID-19 virus situation.

In a new AHS podcast, we interview Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro about his life, his family, his career in law and politics, and his vision for healthcare in the province.

This episode of the ESCN podcast features an insightful conversation with senior healthcare leaders to discuss an initiative aimed to optimizing transfers from Long-term Care Facilities to an Emergency Department.

The ESCN is partnering with Seniors Health, RAAPID, Community Paramedicine, and Long-term Care (LTC) Facilities. The solution is a centralized and standardized LTC-ED care and referral pathway for LTC facilities considering transfer to ED. In conjunction with the implementation of this new pathway, targeted INTERACT® (Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers) tools will be implemented within LTC. This new standardized LTC-ED care and referral pathway will help to better optimize use of both the emergency department and the community paramedicine program, in a way that is patient-centered. Studies have shown that the provision of community paramedicine within LTC can significantly reduce transfers to emergency.

This initiative will be implemented within 36 LTC facilities in the Calgary Zone between August 2019 and March 2022. If the evaluation of this change demonstrates improvements to both LTC residents and the health care system outcomes, it will be spread to other zones within the province, starting with the Central zone.

Participants

Host: Andrea Golding, Senior Project Manager, AHS Emergency Strategic Clinical Network

Guests:

• Dr. Jayna Holroyd-Leduc, U of Calgary Geriatric Medicine Division Head within the Department of Medicine, and Medical Director of Specialized Geriatric Services in AHS Calgary zone

• Dr. Eddy Lang, Scientific Director of the AHS Emergency Strategic Clinical Network and U of Calgary Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine

• Dr. Vivian Ewa, U of Calgary Section Chief of Seniors Care within the Department of Family Medicine, and Medical Director of Integrated Seniors and Facility Living in AHS Calgary zone

Partnering with Patient Advisors can truly bring what matters to you into action. Learn about how Patient Advisors and Family Advisory Councils can guide learning and growth for your project.

University of Alberta Hospital neurologist Dr. Brian Buck discusses the case of André Therriault, a Donnelly farmer who survived and recovered from a serious stroke despite falling ill hundreds of kilometres away from a major stroke centre. This story is told in the video: Stroke program has rural Albertans covered [add hyperlink] on YouTube. In this podcast, Dr. Buck — Co-chair of the Acute Stroke Expert Working Group of the Cardiovascular Health & Stroke Strategic Clinical Network — talks about the Alberta Health Services stroke program and how it ensures Albertans in rural and remote communities can receive prompt, outstanding stroke care when they need it. “In terms of an integrated strategy to dealing with stroke patients, Alberta is unmatched,” says Dr. Buck.

Bronchiolitis, a viral respiratory infection, is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in Canada. On this podcast, host Dr Eddy Lang and guest Inelda Gjata will highlight the development and execution of a bronchiolitis-based audit and feedback project developed by the Alberta Medical Association's Physician Learning Program.

We encourage healthcare providers to consider that ‘function’ is an important health outcome. The rehabilitation philosophy and model of care frames efforts to encourage the notion that “rehabilitation is everyone’s responsibility” in healthcare.

Social innovations means investing in meeting the needs of the community first and peoples’ perspectives. Data on the day-to-day tensions and relationships need to be addressed and unpacked to help tackle the complexity of issues facing the communities. This means, among other things, collectively designing prototypes that might work towards building out a bigger solution.

Dr. Carolyn O’Hara and Tammy Hofer share updates on the announcement of the APL Executive Director People and Transformation, status of the organizational structures, the APL visioning sessions, and the APL e-People system.