Canadian Health Information Podcast

With an exodus of family doctors — due to burnout caused by heavy workloads, difficulties getting patient referrals and financial stress — 1 in 5 Canadians do not have direct access to primary care. Why is family medicine so important and what can we do to repair this over-burdened health care sector? Listen as host Avis Favaro speaks with 2 physicians who say they know how to turn this around — and that every Canadian should have the right to basic health care near their homes. Guests are

• Dr. Jane Philpott, Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, and Director, School of Medicine, Queen’s University; family physician; and former federal minister of health

• Dr. Tara Kiran, Fidani Chair of Improvement and Innovation, University of Toronto; and Family Physician and Scientist, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

This episode is available in English only.

According to the latest CIHI data, almost all (93%) patients experiencing homelessness were admitted to hospital via the emergency department — a high proportion that suggests inadequate access to primary care. In this episode of the CHIP, we’ll hear about the complex health needs of the growing number of people who are unhoused and turning to hospitals for help, and how doctors are working toward solutions. Guests are

• Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, Alberta

• Dr. Andrew Bond, executive medical officer at Inner City Health Associates and co-founder of the Canadian Network for the Health and Housing of People Experiencing Homelessness (CNH3)

This episode is available in English only.

From staffing shortages and physician burnout to department closures and lengthy wait times, there is little question that Canada’s emergency departments are overwhelmed. Some EDs are so busy that hallways are packed with gurneys of patients waiting days to be admitted or, in some cases, choosing to walk away without receiving the emergency care they need. In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro sits down with guests working on the front lines to discuss the ongoing crisis gripping Canada’s emergency departments, the impact on workers and patients, and what’s being done to ease the burden:

• Dr. Fraser Mackay, emergency physician and assistant director of Workforce Planning for the Department of Emergency Medicine in Saint John, New Brunswick

• David Leary, a veteran paramedic and spokesperson for Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia.

This episode is available in English only.

As Canada’s population ages, it is expected that an increasing number of people will become frail. Individuals living with frailty have an increased risk of the following: hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, hospital readmissions, emergency department visits and in-hospital death. New data shows that more than one-third of all hospitalized older adults in Canada are at risk of frailty. On this episode of the Canadian Health Information Podcast, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Kenneth Rockwood, clinical research professor of frailty and aging at Dalhousie University in Halifax, about the harms of frailty and what we can do to better protect older adults at risk.

This episode is available in English only.

Learn more about frailty risk here: https://www.dal.ca/sites/gmr/our-tools/clinical-frailty-scale.html

Hospital harm — medical conditions that patients experience in hospital that they did not have when they were admitted — is on the rise. A new CIHI analysis shows that 1 in 17 patients admitted to hospital was unintentionally harmed during their stay. Meanwhile, nurses and other health care workers charged with caring for patients in Canada are struggling. Sick time and overtime hours are skyrocketing. In this episode of the CHIP, we are joined by Kate Parson, Health Human Resources program lead at CIHI; Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; Kathleen Finlay, founder and CEO of The Compassion Innovation Lab and founder of the Center for Patient Protection ; and Annette Elliott Rose, vice president of Clinical Care Strategy and chief nurse executive at IWK Health to discuss these findings and what they mean for patients and the people who care for them.

This episode is available in English only.

The federal government reached a funding agreement recently with Canada’s provinces and territories that will add roughly $46.2 billion in new money over 10 years to be directed at 4 priority areas: family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and a modernized health system.

In this episode of the CHIP, we speak about what this agreement will mean for average people in Canada and how quickly we can expect to see the effect of this funding. Our guests are Dr. Jennifer Zelmer, president and CEO of Healthcare Excellence Canada; Annamarie Fuchs, a former registered nurse and author of Partners in Health Conversations; and Teri Price, whose brother died tragically in 2012 after falling through the cracks in our health care system.

This episode is available in English only.

More people in Canada are receiving palliative care near the end of their lives than ever — but a lot of work remains. A new CIHI analysis shows there are still many who are not getting the care they need. In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Naheed Dosani — a palliative care physician at St. Michael’s Hospital at Unity Health Toronto, the lead physician for Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) at Inner City Health Associates and medical director at Kensington Hospice — about the future of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care.

This episode is available in English only.

Virtual health care in Canada has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering Canadians unprecedented online access to medical professionals. Now, as the day-to-day effects of the pandemic are lessening in much of the country, the question on many minds is “will I still have this convenient option going forward?” In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Ewan Affleck, the senior medical advisor for health informatics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and chair of the Alberta Virtual Care Coordinating Body, about the future of virtual care in Canada and why he is so passionate about continuing its growth.

This episode is available in English only.