Decriminalization yet another 'half measure' as B.C. confronts full-sized drug crisis, advocates say

2020 protest for drug safety

More than six years and 10,000 deaths since the declaration of a public health emergency over the tainted illicit drug supply, B.C. remains a land of pilot projects and what many describe as "half measures."



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New voluntary standards released today for long-term care homes devastated by the pandemic

Crosses at Camilla Care Community

Promised new national standards for long-term care homes in Canada have now been published — part of Ottawa's attempt to avoid a repeat of the alarming death tolls in long-term care homes that marked the early phase of the pandemic.



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Why it's hard to find a family doctor — and what's being done about it

Toronto Dr. Joseph Param

When a physician can't get a family doctor, you know there's a problem.



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High costs and low rates are pushing B.C. providers who house people with disabilities past their limits

HOMESHARE CARE PROVIDER STRUGGLE

As the cost of living continues to soar, home-share providers are being financially stretched to their limit. And they're calling on the provincial government to raise room and board rates that have long remained stagnant.



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Hay River, N.W.T., looks for ways to tackle deadly opioid crisis

Roy Fabian

Residents of Hay River, N.W.T., are answering fear with action in learning to manage the town's drug crisis. Last week, residents learned that six people in the town of 3,200 had died last year from opioid use.



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WHO says coronavirus remains a global health emergency

1245605859

The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an "inflection point" where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths.



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Canadian doctors spend millions of hours on unnecessary paperwork each year: report

Dr. Leisha Hawker

A report released Monday estimates doctors across Canada spend 18.5 million hours dealing with unnecessary paperwork. It highlights Nova Scotia's efforts to combat this and encourages other provinces to follow.



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What you need to know about the decriminalization of possessing illicit drugs in B.C.

SAFE SUPPLY DRUGS

Starting Tuesday, it is no longer a criminal offence to possess small amounts of certain illicit drugs in B.C., for people age 18 or above. Here’s what you need to know about the province's drug decriminalization pilot.



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After 73 years of marriage, this couple is forced to live apart

Gwen and John Hooper Summer 2021

An Ottawa couple has had to live in separate care facilities for 19 months, despite their children's efforts to reunite them, which one doctor calls a "human tragedy".



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Doctors have nearly eradicated a 'terrifying' disease — without a cure or vaccine

Guinea Worm

When doctors first started trying to eradicate Guinea worm disease nearly four decades ago, more than 3.5 million people were infected. Last year, that number dropped to 13.



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Baby with rare condition teaches lessons of resilience, unpredictability

Amadea

When she was born in October, the doctors gave Amadea Dempster an hour to live. She was missing the top of her skull, had no visible nose and her brain was unusually structured. But she survived. 



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Medical school to open at Cape Breton University by 2025, Houston says

Premier Tim Houston

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston's state of the province address on Friday touched on the economy, focused on the government's firm commitment to fix health care and included the announcement of a new medical school for Cape Breton University.



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2 Vancouver Island area ERs to close overnight for foreseeable future

Port Hardy Hospital

Two emergency rooms in B.C. will be closed overnight for the foreseeable future until the province can recruit enough staff to return to 24-hour operations. 



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Ontario launches fee code for doctors treating long COVID and one researcher says 'it's a big deal'

Humber River Hospital ICU

Ontario has released a billing code for doctors to use when diagnosing long COVID — a move doctors and advocates say is a crucial first step to better understanding, treating and destigmatizing a growing problem.



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Edmonton paramedic sentenced after narcotics stolen from Alberta Health Services

ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES AMBULANCE

An Edmonton paramedic has been found guilty of stealing narcotics from Alberta Health Services facilities, while a second member is awaiting trial on similar allegations of theft from the provincial health authority. 



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Sask. woman gives birth on floor of a townhouse after being sent away from hospital

Tara and Mitchell Luce

A Stockholm, Sask., couple says they will be skeptical about taking their three children to Yorkton Regional Hospital after their experience being turned away shortly before the birth of their now-one-month-old child.



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With N.L. health-care in crisis, some MUN nursing students worry about what they're getting into

Brooke Simms

Some say they're wondering whether they want to join a system strained to the breaking point.



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First Nations groups upset with exclusion from health-care funding talks

Bobby Cameron

First Nations groups are criticizing their exclusion from an upcoming meeting between federal, provincial and territorial governments aiming to reach a funding deal to improve the country's ailing health-care system.



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Quebec's nurses order rejects call to delay spring exam despite concern over fall failure rate

Humber River Hospital ICU

Quebec's order of nurses is rejecting a recommendation to push back the date of its next licensing exam amid an ongoing investigation into why more than half of candidates failed the last sitting.



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Flu, COVID declining in Ontario but new variant gaining ground, top doctor says

Moore Press Conference

Ontario's top doctor says even though COVID-19 and flu activity is declining, the province "must remain vigilant" as a more transmissible variant gains ground.



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COVID-19 misinformation cost at least 2,800 lives and $300M, new report says

COVID Que 20201229

The spread of COVID-19 misinformation in Canada cost at least 2,800 lives and $300 million in hospital expenses over nine months of the pandemic, according to estimates in a new report out Thursday.



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The COVID emergency might end after 3 long years — but the virus is still a threat

Dr. Allison McGeer

On Friday, a World Health Organization committee is meeting to consider whether the COVID-19 pandemic still represents a global public health emergency. Multiple experts say that regardless the decision, this virus will remain a threat for years to come.



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Care hasn't improved after Ontario's 2021 PSW changes, advocates say

Travis Iverson

Personal support workers and people who rely on them say 2021 legislation meant to create regulations and consistency in training has had no effect on the care they receive.



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Immigration requirements are driving new doctors away from N.S., says medical resident

Abhinaya Yeddala

A family medicine resident from India says the requirement for medical graduates to become permanent residents before beginning a residency in the province is a barrier for many aspiring doctors.



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New Brunswick seeks nurses from Quebec amid health-care worker shortage

COVID Que 20220714

A widespread shortage of health-care workers increasingly has provinces competing with one another to try to attract qualified nurses, but experts say trying to hire from elsewhere in Canada will not address the root cause of staffing shortages.



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Cape Breton doctor says some patients risking health by avoiding ER

New Waterford ER ambulance

A Cape Breton doctor says some patients are taking big risks by choosing the urgent treatment centre over the emergency department in Sydney, N.S.



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Alberta Health redirects thousands of orthopedic surgeries to independent clinics to tackle backlog

Copping

Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says more than 3,000 publicly funded hip and knee surgeries will be done at Canadian Surgery Solutions, an independent health-care facility.



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Hangover headaches are the least of your worries. Scientists say drinking can be hard on the brain

Binge drinking girl alcohol

It’s no secret that a night of drinking can rattle your head. But what does science say about how it affects your brain? Research suggests alcohol can negatively affect mental health conditions or hike the risk of cognitive issues and dementia — and cutting back could give your brain a boost.



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Her kidneys are failing. Why this woman isn't counting on Ontario's organ wait list

Christina Meyer

In an effort to avoid dialysis and the province's organ wait list, Simcoe, Ont., resident Christina Meyer, who was diagnosed with kidney disease at 18 and is now 50, has taken her search for a living donor to social media.



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U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot

Vaccination

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus.



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I am not a wheelchair

lisa freeman wheelchair ottawa libarary

Lisa Freeman is tired of having to speak up when people refer to her as "a wheelchair" — the inanimate object she uses. She writes about why language and treatment of people in wheelchairs matters.



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Public opinion pushed provinces, Ottawa into alignment over health care, N.B. premier says

Doug Ford Maritimes 20220822

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says rising pressure from the public was a key force in driving provinces and the federal government toward a deal on health-care funding.



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Quebec health minister apologizes for end-of-life care for Robert Bourassa's widow at St. Mary's Hospital

BOURASSA

The regional health board that oversees Montreal's St. Mary's Hospital says it will investigate the treatment Andrée Simard received there after her family said she suffered needlessly in her final days.



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The high costs of a health-care crisis in rural B.C.

AMBULANCE SNOW

The health-care service in Chetwynd, about 1,100 km northeast of Vancouver, has been so intermittent that Ashley MacWilliam is afraid it will put people like her asthmatic daughter at risk. 



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Ontario to pay tuition for more nurses, paramedics, lab technicians who work in underserved areas

Doug Ford

An Ontario government program that pays for tuition and books for nurses who agree to work for two years in the city where they studied is expanding to include similar funding for paramedics and lab technicians, Premier Doug Ford said in London on Friday.



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Family doctor says he's overworked and overregulated, and $400K in debt

Jamil Sawaya 3

Dr. Jamil Sawaya, a family physician in Saskatoon, says an often overlooked part of the problem of Canada's family doctor shortage is that for people coming out of medical school, family medicine is a much less appealing choice than other options.



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Get your booster dose as new Omicron offshoot spreads: Canada's top doctor

Cda Health 20230120

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, urged people to get their booster shots Friday as COVID-19 activity continues to fluctuate in the country.



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Feds are 'confident' there will soon be a deal on health-care funding

Cda Health 20230120

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Friday there's been a breakthrough in ongoing federal-provincial talks on the future of health-care funding.



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Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital calls for help finding nursing staff

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital

In an attempt to resolve conflict linked to compulsory overtime, the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal's management is asking other establishments to lend them nursing staff on a temporary basis. Until then it is asking people to avoid the ER.



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First responders prepared to strike at noon after 'serious move' by employer, union leader says

fewers ambulance

First responders with eight ambulance services owned by one man are prepared to walk off the job today, after what they call a "serious move" by their employer "against one of our members."



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Hidden camera investigation finds Canadian man peddling unproven cancer treatments in Mexico

Darrell Wolfe performing treatment

The self-described "Doc of Detox" was exposed nearly 30 years ago for selling fake HIV cures in Toronto. Now, he's peddling unproven and harmful treatments for everything from chronic pain to cancer, according to a Marketplace investigation.



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How untreated hearing loss can affect the health of Black Canadians

Dekota Clayton

Audiologist Dekota Clayton is holding an information session in the Preston Township next week to talk about how untreated hearing loss can affect members of Black communities. 



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Premier says new plan will speed up process for health-care workers moving to Ontario

Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones at Windsor Regional Hospital

Ford says the legislation, coming next month, will get rid of 'bureaucratic delays.'



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Alberta's first shipment of kids' pain reliever arrives

children's medication shortage

A first shipment of children's pain medication destined for Alberta hospitals has arrived but the province is still waiting for an order of bottles destined for pharmacies to arrive in the province.



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Documents show Quebec has known about problems at Lakeshore ER for years

Lakeshore General Hospital

The Quebec government was made aware of an array of problems at the Lakeshore General Hospital emergency room in Montreal’s West Island prior to the pandemic but failed to move quickly to address them, documents show.



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P.E.I. behind national benchmark for cataract surgery wait times

Pierre Filion

Pierre Filion still has enough eyesight to read, though he sometimes has to use a magnifying glass for prescription labels and other small type.



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Rural Sask. lacking support for drug users, says woman in recovery

Colleen Silverthorn

The executive director of a safe consumption site in Saskatoon says all drugs being tested by users are coming back positive for fentanyl. But treatment beds and drug testing strips are among the supports that are difficult to access in rural Saskatchewan.



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Alberta now offering accelerated licensing for internationally trained doctors, specialists

Doctor with stethoscope

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has announced a five-year pilot project to bring more doctors to the province faster, amid an ongoing shortage and strained emergency departments.



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Air Canada lost her stepdad's custom wheelchair. One advocate says it's 'not a one-off'

Jim Hamilton

A Brantford, Ont., man has been stranded in Chile without his custom wheelchair after his stepdaughter says Air Canada lost it.



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Children's medication en route to Alberta, but pharmacies say shortage has passed

Ghada Haggag

A plane carrying 250,000 bottles of children’s pain relief medication from Turkey should arrive in Edmonton today, destined for hospitals, according to the provincial government.



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