Tales of healthcare collapse, Canadian Edition
What a shit show. Coming to a healthcare system near you.
Welcome to a special bonus edition of the Covid-Is-Not-Over newsletter.
This issue is about healthcare system collapse. My particular case study is the country where I live, Canada. The time frame is January 2024, but with some coverage starting in early fall 2023. The focus is how the Covid-19 driven surge in hospitals, coupled with the normal winter respiratory illness season, has caused all the various provincial healthcare systems here in Canada to teeter on the brink of total collapse. With Covid peaking in early January, we’ve seen some easing of the crisis, at least in how the media is reporting the situation.
What’s the cause?
Of course, the Covid pandemic is the main cause, what with the way it’s strained systems with both the acute effects driving hospital admissions as well as how Long Covid and other long term effects of Covid’s cardiovascular and cognitive (and other!) impact on our bodies.
Covid isn’t the only villain here. Long term austerity and rampant cost cutting in all the healthcare systems in Canada left those systems woefully unprepared for the effects of the Covid pandemic. Not to mention how many of the provincial governments in Canada have been stealthily (and not so stealthily) pushing a privatisation agenda for the systems. They’ve been deliberately starving healthcare funding to “make the case” that the system obviously needs new sources of funding. In other words, we should all have to pay out of pocket for private sector care.
This is the tip of the iceberg. There are no shortages of villains in this tale of collapse.
The format of this issue is a bit different from normal. I have a couple of articles linked below that provide a bit of context. Following those, I’ve basically got a fairly extensive chronological list of media articles about healthcare collapse in Canada. I have a few from 2022, then a bunch covering the few months leading up to January 2024 to give a sense of the progression.
Finally, there’s a big list from January 2024 of most everything I could find. The idea here is to show in as much detail as possible that, yes, indeed, the Canadian healthcare system was on the verge of collapse. My assumptions is that the articles I’ve found here truly are the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s really happening on the ground in the various Canadian healthcare systems.
Think of this as a cautionary tale. It’s happening here. Beware: the same forces that are pushing our system to the brink are coming for your system too, no matter where you are.
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Our health-care system is crashing by Max Faucet / Canada's National Observer
The COVID-19 pandemic has already killed more than 50,000 Canadians and crippled our sense of national unity and cohesion. But its biggest casualty may be yet to come: Canada’s health-care system.
If you’ve spent even a moment trying to access critical care over the last few years, you know just how bad things have gotten. Wait times at emergency rooms often stretch into days rather than hours, surgeries and other necessary procedures are being delayed, and finding a family doctor just keeps getting more difficult. Doctors and nurses, many of whom are suffering from pandemic-related burnout and some low-grade PTSD, are retiring early. As a result, a system that’s supposed to provide universal coverage is becoming decidedly less equitable. As Dr. Tara Kiran noted in a new study published in the CMAJ, “What we have is a haves-and-have-nots situation. [There are] people who do have access to a family doctor and a health team, and then those who have nothing.”
Loblaws' long game to take over healthcare by Jordan Roberts / Corruptario
When Loblaws purchased Shoppers Drug Mart in 2013, it was the largest Canadian retailer acquisition in history, and it transformed the Canadian landscape for retail (food, medicine, personal items) and real estate. Lexpert, Canada’s trade magazine for lawyers, wrote: “The acquisition brings Loblaw and Shoppers within close reach of more Canadians, with more than 2,300 stores (corporate, franchised and associate-owned) and nearly 1,800 pharmacies totalling 65 million square feet of selling space.”
Given the incredible scope, influence and position of Loblaws and Shoppers together in Canada, the deal was covered rather uncritically as a “win” in Canadian media. Many columnists positioned the acquisition as “protecting” Shoppers from other buyers and “fending off” foreign retailers such as Walmart and Target. A review of coverage indicates the acquisition was covered pretty much as the company positioned the move itself in their own media materials:
“The acquisition brings together two iconic Canadian brands and harnesses the complementary strengths of the nation's number-one grocery retailer and number-one pharmacy and beauty retailer. It strengthens both companies' competitiveness in an evolving retail landscape, creating new growth opportunities for shareholders.”
There was little coverage or debate, at the time, about how the acquisition would impact Canadian consumers, in terms of competition and data protection. In fact, articles on that topic seem to have been subsequently removed from the internet, such as this dead link to 2013 story, promoted in a CBC article about the acquisition.
Machado: We can't let stories of overcrowded ERs, burned out staff and doctor shortages lose their sting by Lisa Machado / Healthing.ca
This is the “so what” that we need to be adding to all of these stories about ER deaths and bed shortages and delayed screening that is robbing people of their loved ones. The very same things that decision-makers can’t seem to take a stand on. So what if there aren’t enough beds in our hospitals? Well, you won’t have a bed when you need urgent life-saving surgery; you will be using your retirement and tropical holiday funds to pay for home care for your aging parents (who will be living with you, by the way); and when your child or their child develops a rare disease, not only will they not have access to the medicine that’s available everywhere else in the world, there won’t be a bed in which to treat the complications of their illness and ensure they have a decent quality of life. So what? You will likely be financially insecure, under incredible mental and emotional stress and have to take time off from work.
Certainly, this is only one hypothetical healthcare journey out of hundreds of dire possibilities. But it’s also just one answer to “so what?” that reminds us how desperate health care will be in this country if we — patients, caregivers, industry, everyone — don’t begin to hold those who should be accountable, accountable. Now.
As most have probably noticed, there is no paid subscription option for this newsletter. However, Substack does have an option where subscribers can pledge to subscribe “just in case” and a few kind subscribers have made that pledge. I very much appreciated the vote of confidence in what I’m doing here. What I’ve decided to do on a trial basis is to set up a “tip jar” on the Ko-fi platform. I’m not anticipating a huge surge of income from using Ko-fi but whatever revenue I do end up with, I plan to spend on supporting artists on Bandcamp. Sadly, who knows how long that will seem like a good idea.
June 2022
September 2022
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
Canada’s health care system on verge of collapse, family doctors warn (Canada)
Privatized health clinics see increase in patients fed up with wait times in public system (Canada)
Ontario needs more staff, beds to address 'hospital crisis': union | CP24.com (Ontario)
October 2023
Canada’s health-care crisis is gendered: How the burden of care falls to women(Canada)
National health-care leaders call for 'urgent action' as ministers meet on P.E.I. | CBC News (PEI)
More than 1.3 M Canadians abandoned waits in emergency rooms in 2023 (Canada)
November 2023
Alberta Medical Association sounds alarm on state of healthcare system (Alberta)
Why some patients are waiting months in N.W.T. hospitals for long-term care beds | CBC News (NWT)
Whitehorse Daily Star: Hospital wait times unacceptable: opposition (Yukon)
Time to 'think outside the box' to fix Yukon hospital staffing challenges, doctor says | CBC News (Yukon)
December 2023
A collapsing health-care system is Ontario’s real ‘new normal’ | TVO Today (Ontario)
Ontario suffered 1,199 ER closures in 2023, report says | CTV News (Ontario)
Emergency room staffing woes could be dangerous to your health (Ontario)
Staff shortages crippled some emergency departments in Ontario: auditor general | Globalnews.ca
January 2024 (Roughly Chronological)
2 patients die waiting for care at hospital on Montreal's South Shore | CBC News (Quebec)
Holiday health-care crunch prompts some N.B. ER advisories, overnight closures | CBC News (New Brunswick)
Stories of the year: Diagnostic backlogs in Saskatchewan's health care system (Sask)
Kids’ emergency rooms are crunched in Canada. What parents should know - National | Globalnews.ca (Canada)
Quebec ERs 'out of control' as patient influx overwhelms hospitals, doctors say | CBC News (Quebec)
Canada’s health care system overwhelmed with steep rise in respiratory viruses - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Patient’s Account Exposes Healthcare Crisis at New Brunswick Hospital (NB)
Lakeridge Health Grapples with Surge in Patient Volume and Long Wait Times (Ontario)
Hallway health care: Ontario Health metrics put numbers to strained system - The Trillium (Ontario)
Southlake warns of higher ER wait times due to ongoing overcrowding - Bradford News (Ontario)
Hospital staffing crisis reaching 'breaking point' in Ontario, union says | CBC News (Ontario)
Southlake warns of higher ER wait times due to ongoing overcrowding - Newmarket News (Ontario)
ER doctors don't want to deter people from seeking care amid crowding: association
‘State of chaos’: Man spends 5 days in hospital, speaks out on health-care crisis | Globalnews.ca (NB)
Have you been to an Ontario ER lately? Lots of sick people in the hallway. People coughing, moaning, crying, vomiting while waiting endlessly to be seen. Nurses and doctors are overworked. They’re doing their best. The health care system is in shambles. It’s challenging for everyone, so please don’t yell at the overworked nurses who manage to show up. We are not the problem. Doug Ford is. He decided to destroy public healthcare this much so that he can justify privatization. Please know where to direct your anger. / https://twitter.com/birgitomo (Ontario)
Emergency doctors push back against Health P.E.I.'s wait-time advisories | CBC News (PEI)
Thank you CMA President Elect Dr Reimer - the ER system in Canada has collapsed. We have accepted the unacceptable, we have strayed so far any national standards we set ourselves, and we ask patients to suffer more than their illness. It is national failure. @jossreimer / Raghu Venugopal MD (@raghu_venugopal) / X (Canada)
‘The waiting room was packed’: Canada’s ERs overflow as wait times surge | Watch News Videos Online (Canada)
Quebec emergency room occupancy rates remain very high | CTV News (Quebec)
Fredericton ER filthy and overflowing during holidays, visitors say | CBC News (NB)
Red Deer ER uses tarps secured with duct tape to create more space for patients (Alberta)
Doctor calls temporary closure of Saskatoon ER 'a red flag' (Sask)
'Perfect storm' has Perth, Ont. hospital without enough ER beds for patient volumes (Ontario)
Family angry after man spends 11 hours waiting for care at Cambridge, Ont., hospital | CBC News (Ontario)
CONSIDER OTHER OPTIONS: Lakeridge Health emergency departments are overcrowded (Ontario)
Ontario’s Hospital Labour Force Is At A Breaking Point (Ontario)
Emergency room shutdowns and overcrowding cause concern among N.L. residents (NFLD)
'Every bed is full': Saskatoon doctors at a loss in the face of jam-packed ERs | CTV News (Sask)
Longer Stanton wait times, few beds as flu season hits NWT hard (NWT)
Emergency doctors push back against Health P.E.I.'s wait-time advisories | CBC News (PEI)
Nurses ‘frustrated’ as N.S. hospitals overflow with patients, exceed capacity - Halifax | Globalnews.ca (Nova Scotia)
Fewer than one-quarter of N.S. health-care workers reported getting flu shots this year | CBC News (Nova Scotia)
Health care in Ontario: What needs to be done now for the province to fix crumbling system (Ontario)
Union survey points to crisis in health-care sector staffing | Windsor Star (Ontario)
Opinion: ER overcrowding won’t be solved by telling sick people to stay home (Canada)
Northern Ontario nurses stressed, considering quitting: Poll - Timmins News (Ontario)
Canadian ER doctor says wait times are the 'worst it's ever been' (Canada)
Another emergency shift. I am beyond furious. Some people are waiting over 24 hours to be seen. Patients have been in the ER for over a week waiting for beds. We are a rich nation. There is no excuse for this. Provinces: Stop cutting health care so you can brag about tax cuts / Dr. Doug Eyolfson (Manitoba)
Nurses union raises alarm about new overtime restrictions at Alberta Health Services | CBC News (Alberta)
AMA calls on Alberta to declare health-care crisis as surgery, ER and ambulance wait times increase (Alberta)
Ottawa hospitals continuing to feel the strain of a tough viral season (Ontario)
Ottawa hospitals continuing to feel the strain of a tough viral season (Ontario)
B.C. hospital admissions break record as respiratory illness season nears peak (BC)
Braid: Health care just kept getting worse after Smith's big promises last year (Alberta)
ER overcrowding will 'continue to be difficult,' says Quebec health minister | CTV News (Quebec)
Quebec hit with major flu wave as emergency room visits jump by 10 per cent (Quebec)
Why are Quebec's ERs so bad this year? A bunch of reasons, Quebec health minister says (Quebec)
Ontario hospitals warn of patient surges, long wait times | CBC News (Ontario)
St. Marys emergency department to temporarily close overnight Thursday (Ontario)
'No one wants to spend 20 hours waiting': Canada's doctors say our ERs are in crisis (Canada)
Record number of hospitalizations as COVID and flu peaks - Victoria Times Colonist (BC)
Patients, providers suffer as ERs are overwhelmed yet again: CMA (Canada)
20-hour waits: Canadian doctors group reports overflowing emergency rooms (Canada)
Ford government under fire over ER wait times | CityNews Toronto (Ontario)
Ambulances diverted from Moncton Hospital during 'critical overcapacity' in ER | CBC News (NB)
'Temporary' OB and surgery closures at Lac La Biche hospital near one year - LakelandToday.ca (Alberta)
Wait times continue to climb in emergency rooms across Hamilton, Niagara (Ontario)
Surging flu cases overwhelming hospitals (Ontario)
Viruses causing 'extreme pressue' for Hamilton hospitals | inTheHammer (Ontario)
Opinion: The quiet, progressive death of Alberta’s health-care system | Calgary Herald (Alberta)
Alberta emergency doctors sometimes work for free, medical association says | CBC News (Alberta)
Guelph General ER visitors waiting an average of 5 hours to see a doctor (Ontario)
Over-capacity ERs are dangerous choke points. But hospital challenges go far deeper | CBC News (Canada)
Hamilton-area hospitals warn beds are full, patients being cared for in hallways | CBC News (Ontario)
Patient Wait Times Soar in Canadian Emergency Departments Amidst Viral Season (Canada)
Horizon Health hospitals remain over 100% capacity | Country 94 (NFLD)
Doctor’s duct tape ribbon raises awareness about fractured health care system - Red Deer Advocate (Alberta)
Yarmouth doctors call for concrete timelines to replace 'inadequate' emergency department | CBC News (NB)
'Problems have snowballed' since pandemic, says Brantford hospital official (Ontario)
Data from Ontario Health from May show 20 "fully functional" ORs in Toronto area are only "partially utilized" Another 32 are "not utilized." 52 operating rooms that could be opened to help surgical patients if nurses and funding were available. So why open more private for profit surgical clinics in when the hospital system is not being used? / Avis Favaro (Ontario)
Emergency department wait times historically bad: internal report - Collingwood News (Ontario)
The Ontario Hospital Association has released a statement on the current emergency department pressures Ontario hospitals are experiencing. #onpoli #onhealth / Ontario Hospital Association (Ontario)
‘Dire consequence’: Ontario doctors pitch plan for buckling health-care sector | Globalnews.ca (Ontario)
No end to the ER crisis without investments and addressing workers' concerns (Ontario)
ER wait times reach record highs under Ford mismanagement (Ontario)
‘Huge spike’ in population adding to pressures on Ontario ERs | Globalnews.ca (Ontario)
Staff shortages crippled some emergency departments in Ontario: auditor general | Globalnews.ca (Ontario)
33-hour ER wait highlights health system challenges: St. B patient – Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba)
County health in ‘crisis’ due to staffing | The Highlander (Ontario)
Ontario government document shows historically bad emergency department wait times - The Trillium (Ontario)
'Stuck in a hospital hallway': Emergency wait times hit historic high - Innisfil News (Ontario)
Milk River emergency room to close for the weekend - My Lethbridge Now (Alberta)
Packed hallways, standing room only at Winnipeg ERs as wait times climb | CBC News (Manitoba)
Number of patients waiting for surgery in Quebec hits new record | CBC News (Quebec)
Letter signed by 45 doctors declares emergency at Prince County Hospital | CBC News (PEI)
Unsafe staffing is putting patients at risk. Nurses, health-care professionals have solutions (Ontario)
Health department wants to put four more N.B. hospitals to take critical state procedure (NB)
Insight: Why are patients spending 22 hours in the emergency room waiting for a hospital bed? | CMA (Canada)
Doctor says she is apologizing to Ontario patients as wait times stay high | Globalnews.ca (Ontario)
Yarmouth doctors want emergency department update | CBC.ca (NS).
$13-million modular ER to open five months late at Lakeshore General Hospital (Quebec)
Ford government slammed for Ontario's use of temporary nurses (Ontario)
Vancouver resident says hospital discharging patients onto street bench - BC | Globalnews.ca (BC)
Milk River ER closed for the weekend: AHS | CityNews Calgary (Alberta)
Hospital emergency room in Oliver to undergo another temporary closure | Globalnews.ca (BC)
Bill 124 was written to enrich healthcare staffing agencies (Ontario)
Canada's population is booming — access to family doctors hasn't kept pace | CBC News (Canada)
Mother worried about inconsistency in sharing important N.B. Public Health info | CBC News (NB)
B.C. health minister responds to allegations of ‘patient dumping’ from hospitals | Globalnews.ca (BC)
Health Care In Canada Is No Longer A Top Priority – 620 CKRM (Canada)
Service disruptions at Alberta Emergency Departments tally 38,000 hours in 2023 - LakelandToday.ca (Alberta)
Overflowing emergency rooms are in crisis this winter season (Ontario)
Temporary closure announced for Milk River emergency department | Lethbridge News Now (Alberta)
Ontario public health units show interest and concern over plans to merge | Globalnews.ca (Ontario)
An anesthesiologist shortage is delaying surgeries across Canada, physicians say (Canada)
Canadians have little faith health-care system will improve soon: poll - National | Globalnews.ca (Canada)
Healthcare wait times worsen across Niagara - Thorold News (Ontario)
How to advocate for yourself and navigate a strained health-care system - National | Globalnews.ca (Canada)
Our health-care system is crashing | Canada's National Observer: Climate News (Canada)
Calls grow for province to do more in rural healthcare crisis (Ontario)
Alberta touts $77-million Shoppers Drug Mart investment as win for public health care (Alberta)
'Overcapacity in every way': Viruses impacting York Region hospitals - Newmarket News (Ontario)
Health unions frustrated with lack of progress at Saskatoon’s hospitals | Watch News Videos Online (Sask)
'Every bed is full': Saskatoon doctors at a loss in the face of jam-packed ERs | CTV News (Sask)
Mother on 12-hour ER wait with sick newborn: ‘How’s there only 1 doctor?’ | Globalnews.ca (NB)
Quinte mayors urge provincial action on doctor shortage | Belleville Intelligencer (Ontario)
OPEN LETTER: Group Health 'fully committed to navigating this crisis' - Sault Ste. Marie News (Ontario)
Midland doc closing practice over 'systemic' issues causing family medicine 'crisis' (Ontario)
Hamilton's hospitals short $135 million and counting (Ontario)
Area hospitals using loans, lines of credit to pay for care (Ontario)
Protesters reject further privatization of health care – The Signal (NS)
Community editorial board: Cornwall's hospital, staff members, and patients deserve better (Ontario)
Alberta government promotes 'pharmacy clinics' to take strain off family doctors, ERs | CBC News (Alberta)
Bill 124 was written to enrich healthcare staffing agencies (Ontario)
Doctor shortage again closes Oliver hospital’s emergency room - Salmon Arm Observer (BC)
Report released on nurses' working conditions at Kingston hospital (Ontario)
Visits to local hospital emergency rooms spiked in 2021-2022 | Northern News (Ontario)
Covid-19 and respiratory viruses causing increases in Quebec deaths - Video - CityNews Montreal (Quebec)
Vancouver Island doctor says healthcare crisis is getting worse - My Campbell River Now (BC)
Province continues work to move long-term care patients out of crowded N.B. hospitals (NB)
Nurses say understaffing resulting in unsafe work environment at Winchester hospital's birthing unit (Ontario)
Staff shortages still a limiting factor in improving N.S. health care | CBC News (NS)
South Muskoka physicians say new healthcare model “not acceptable” - Huntsville Doppler (Ontario)
10000 Ontario patients cut loose because of staffing shortages (Ontario)
Nurses say understaffing resulting in unsafe work environment at Winchester hospital's birthing unit (Ontario)
Canada facing a crisis in hospital emergency care - Sudbury News (Canada)
Why is Danielle Smith shilling for Shoppers Drug Mart? (Alberta)
Seaforth Community Hospital’s emergency department closing Tuesday night - StratfordToday.ca (Ontario)
Kent County’s only hospital losing acute care beds for a few months | Watch News Videos Online (NB)
Work continues to alleviate N.B. health-care pressures: 'We are making moves every day' (NB)
'It's been a nightmare': Residents describe search for family doctor in Ottawa (Ontario)
'Woefully under-resourced': Canada's emergency care in crisis - Newmarket News (Canada)
Kitchener, Ont. teen waits 19 hours for emergency appendectomy | CTV News (Ontario)
Data reveals healthcare professional shortage in N.S. | 101.5 The Hawk (NS)
'It's been a nightmare': Residents describe search for family doctor in Ottawa (Ontario)
Julia Malott: My daughter's harrowing health-care experience should be a wake-up call (Ontario)
Saskatoon mother and daughter wait 3 hours for help after calling 911 (Sask)
Beyond adaptation and resilience: A call for health-care transformation - Healthy Debate (Canada)
Shortage of key heart surgery equipment hangs over Alberta operating rooms | CBC News (Alberta)
I knew it was bad but seeing your list of news stories that goes on and on and on is shocking. What are we even doing??