November 7, 2013—The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has combined new and previously released figures to provide Canadians with a snapshot of our overall health and a broad look at how our health system is performing. OurHealthSystem.ca presents comparable, interactive and easily understood information about Canada’s health system, from the national level down to the local and facility levels. It shows which health regions have top results for indicators such as

November 7, 2013

REGINA – The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region is putting one of its long-term senior care plans on hold.The region had intended to implement a policy of sending patients to the first available bed within a 150-kilometre radius.Spokesman Michael Redenbach says hospitals aren’t always the best environment for the elderly, who don’t get programming supports there.

Find our how your city's or region's health care measures up CBC News Posted: Nov 07, 2013

A new website aims to provide Canadians with a user-friendly snapshot of how the health system is performing. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released its interactive tool, OurHealthSystem.ca, on Thursday.

Deep River, Ont. paramedics do weekly checks on local seniors By Sarah Bridge, CBC News Posted: Nov 06, 2013 10:32 PM ET

A cure for lengthy wait lists?

Workplace Integration for New Nurses (WINN) Nursing The Future (NTF) proudly presents…

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Marlene Kramer, PhD, RN, FAAN   Challenges Encountered by New Graduates Integrating into the Contemporary Practice Setting Evening Address Tuesday, April 29, 2014 Facilitating A Successful Transition for New Nurses: The Role of Residency Programs Welcome Address Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The Brantford Expositor Thu Nov 7 2013

LONDON --Tired of waiting for Ontario to protect the vulnerable from deadly flu, hospitals are talking about requiring health care workers to get vaccinated. It's a measure that would save lives, but anger health care unions that have fought against mandatory flu shots. "Some groups of hospitals are talking," said Dr. Allison McGeer, a microbiologist and director of infectious disease at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Toronto Star Thu Nov 7 2013

Health spending in Canada grew by only 2.6 per cent this year, according to the Canada Institute for Health Information (CIHI). That's a far cry from the 7 per cent annual spending increases between 2000 and 2010. This is the fifth straight decline in the growth rate and the third year that per capita health spending has dropped in real terms. As a share of GDP, Canada spends 11.2 per cent today, down from a high of 11.6 per cent three years ago. It's fair to say that health-care spending in Canada has essentially flatlined since the economic downturn of 2008-09.

This all happened despite the almost universal belief among opinion leaders that health spending is out of control and will bankrupt provincial governments. Opinion pages were littered with experts convinced that Canada was doomed to crippling increases in health-care spending as the population aged.

by Matthew Mendelsohn & Will Falk (Show all posts by Matthew Mendelsohn & Will Falk) November 6, 2013

This is the fifth straight decline in the growth rate and the third year that per capita health spending has dropped in real terms.  As a percent of GDP, Canada spends 11.2% today, down from a high of 11.6% three years ago. It’s fair to say that health care spending in Canada has essentially flat-lined since the economic downturn of 2008-09.

This all happened despite the almost universal belief among opinion leaders that health spending is out of control and will bankrupt provincial governments. Opinion pages were littered with experts convinced that Canada was doomed to crippling increases in health care spending as the population aged.

published November 06, 2013

From Bad to Worse: Residential elder care in Alberta by Shannon Stunden Bower, David Campanella

The replacement of LTC with AL Elders who would once have been placed in LTC have increasingly been diverted into AL.

CETA will result in higher drug costs for Canadians: study

While we still don’t know all the details of the CETA, one thing is clear: the agreement will seriously impact the ability of Canadians to afford quality health care,” concludes Dr. Lexchin. Ottawa (05 Nov. 2013) - The Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) will result in significantly higher drug costs for Canadians, says a study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

October 10, 2013

Surgeries, procedures and other health care services now available at local hospitals will soon be hived-off into private, possibly for-profit clinics unless the Ontario Liberal government takes a sober second-look at the possible adverse consequences of cutting more services from hospitals, warns Michael Hurley president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).

Hamilton Spectator Wed Nov 6 2013

Senior kicked off long-term care wait list (Nov. 4) How many readers this weekend were saddened by the story of the Milton woman with brain cancer who was advised by our health minister to keep up with fundraisers for treatment for her brain cancer?

Where is the dignity we seniors deserve in our later years? Our opposition leaders are really absent in action when it comes to questioning our health minister with respect to these important health matters

Published: November 04, 2013 10:00 AM

The North Island College fourth-year nursing students are hosting an event featuring Dr. Michael Rachlis.

He will discuss the topic Public health care is sustainable: Modernizing Medicare for the Twentieth-first Century.

Toronto Star Tue Nov 5 2013

Weighing in on pension reform, Letter Nov. 4 While the Americans are raucously grappling with the introduction of a new national health care system, the Canadians are silently witnessing the dismantling of our health care system under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's watch. Canada's national health care system is one of our defining programs as a nation because of the good it does for all Canadians. But, bit-by-bit Mr. Harper is eroding it.

William Gleberzon, professor, History Department, York University

The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, the hospital division of CUPE, will hold a media conference to publicize a community telephone hotline, which will allow members of the public to call in about their experiences with healthcare in the Smiths Falls and Perth and area communities.

SMITHS FALLS, ON, Nov. 3, 2013

Drug coverage in canada depends on your age, where you work, and what province you live in. Millions of canadians lack basic coverage for essential medicine

Pharmacare 2020: The future of drug coverage in Canada is a research-based report that presents a clear and coherent vision of Pharmacare for Canada: a public drug plan that is universal, comprehensive, evidence-based, and sustainable. Download the Report | Recommendations

A healthcare Lean Sweep? Delivering on the Lean promise of maximizing patient value while minimizing waste December 4, 2013

Lean needs no introduction. Simply, it means creating more value for customers through an unrelenting focus on eliminating waste (e.g., time waiting, excess supplies, additional movement, excessive transportation, etc).

CALGARY, Oct. 16, 2013

The majority of Canadians believe that our health-care system is universal, comprehensive and equitable, but is it? The truth is that although Canadians strongly support medicare, few actually know what it covers - and what it doesn't.

In a report published today by The School of Public Policy, authors Herb Emery and Ron Kneebone look at the term "medically necessary", which, as defined by The Canada Health Act (CHA), determines what medical services are paid for by the government, and which ones will come out of the pockets of patients. Canadians assume that they, unlike uninsured Americans, are fully protected from catastrophic medical events. Today's report says otherwise.

By Gregory P. Marchildon and Haizhen Mou, The Starphoenix October 18, 2013

Marchildon is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.ca and, along with Mou, teaches at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan.New Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Frechette recently announced that Ottawa's reform of the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and spending cuts make federal finances sustainable for the long-term, but possibly at the expense of the provinces.

Capping the transfer to the rate of economic growth, it appears, will make provincial finances less sustainable. But this is only one aspect of CHT reform that could hurt the provinces. The less visible CHT reform - the change to a pure per capita funding formula - will have an even worse impact on the ability of most provinces to finance necessary health care.