Alberta’s ‘New Era’ of Health Care: Promises or Real Change?

Alberta’s ‘New Era’ of Health Care: Promises or Real Change?

Premier Danielle Smith’s new health-care mandates are raising fresh concerns about creeping privatization — but the bigger issue remains the same: Alberta’s health system is broken and needs real reform, not just reshuffling.

The province’s new plan focuses on “choice and access,” including private options for diagnostics and surgeries. Critics warn this could shift resources away from public hospitals already short on staff.

If Alberta truly wants shorter wait times and better care, it needs transparent funding, service-based accountability, and a system that rewards results — not bureaucracy.

Talking about change isn’t the same as making it happen.

#AlbertaHealth #HealthCareReform #FixTheSystem #ABPolitics #CanadianHealthCare

Ridiculous wait times at the Moncton Hospital! 

If the Moncton Hospital expects you to wait in their ER department, for 24 hours, to be seen by a doctor, perhaps they can upgrade their seating.

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NB Broken HealthCare

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This Report Borders on the Absurd!

 This Report Borders on the Absurd!

A new CNN piece claims that asthma inhalers are major climate polluters — the equivalent of half a million cars a year.

The study, published in JAMA, says metered-dose inhalers release hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs), gases thousands of times more potent than CO₂. Between 2014 and 2024, U.S. pharmacies dispensed 1.6 billion inhalers — enough, researchers say, to produce nearly 25 million tonnes of emissions annually.

Doctors suggest switching to “dry powder” inhalers, but these are often costlier, less available, and harder for children or seniors to use. For many, inhalers are life-saving necessities — not optional gadgets.

Even study authors admit the emissions are minor compared to traffic, power generation, or agriculture. Yet the report still urges action, framing inhalers as a “low-hanging fruit” for climate reform.

In short: the same devices helping people breathe are now being blamed for warming the planet. 

I wonder???

HealthCare is broken around the world

Meanwhile, across the pond in England, newly qualified doctors are now voting for strike action over the same issue: a shortage of jobs.

In this case, there are enough doctors — but the healthcare system can’t absorb them through residencies.The British Medical Association reports that 30,000 candidates competed for just 10,000 residency positions this year.

Many trained, capable doctors are being left without specialty placements — or any jobs at all — while patients continue to face long waits for care.As Dr. Jack Fletcher of the BMA put it:“It makes no sense that despite the need to bring down waiting lists and increase capacity, thousands of willing and skilled doctors are unable to find the work to begin treating patients.”Sound familiar?

This is what happens when governments fail to plan the medical workforce properly — expanding medical schools without creating enough residency spaces.

The UK is seeing it now. New Brunswick has been living it for years.

We don’t just need more doctors — we need a system that can actually use them 

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CBC Marketplace

Earlier today, I had a scheduled background interview with a reporter from CBC Marketplace — one of Canada’s top investigative programs focused on real social and consumer issues.

The discussion centered on New Brunswick’s broken healthcare system and the urgent need for national attention to what’s happening here. At the end of the interview, I was asked if I’d consider an on-camera segment if the story moves forward.

It’s encouraging to see major media starting to take notice. The more awareness we bring to New Brunswick’s healthcare crisis, the harder it becomes for decision-makers to ignore it.

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We don't' accept funding!

We have far too many non-profits in Canada — and especially here in New Brunswick.

Each one has its own board of directors, president, and administrative staff. By the time you add up wages, office costs, and overhead, as much as 69% of the money raised never reaches the people or causes it’s meant to help.

And here’s the kicker — for the most part, the non-profit model is failing. Too many organizations compete for the same dollars, duplicate each other’s work, and burn resources on management instead of real solutions.

That’s why NB Broken Healthcare does not accept money.
We’re not here for profit or fundraising — we’re here for change.

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I won’t protest, I won’t march, and I won’t yell to be heard.

What I will do is spend my free time bringing New Brunswick together and demanding real change.

What drives me is sitting in a New Brunswick emergency room for 13 hours — watching the despair on people’s faces. No updates. No timelines. Just silence and suffering.

I saw the frustration and exhaustion as people gave up and walked out. We’ve normalized people dying in ERs and waiting months for basic tests.

We can’t accept this any longer.
Do better, New Brunswick.

Hospital Funding Needs to Change

Hospital Funding Needs to Change!

There are 3 ways the province can fund New Brunswick hospitals: yearly block grants, activity-based payments, or a hybrid of both.

1 – Block Grants

Your hospital receives a fixed amount of money per year. Every expense is deducted from that operating fund. A CT scan is a cost, a knee replacement is a cost, every ER patient visit is a cost. Both public and private corporations manage this by controlling expenses, which often means throttling back services. You can see where this leads.

2 – Activity-Based Funding

In this model, hospitals are reimbursed for every CT scan, every knee replacement, and each ER patient treated. The more people treated, the more funding the hospital receives. Do you think testing equipment would sit idle evenings and weekends? Do you think hospitals would let 10–15 people leave the ER without being seen (as I witnessed Wednesday evening), missing the chance to be reimbursed for treating them?

3 – Hybrid (Block + Activity-Based)

A blended model provides stable block funding while also rewarding hospitals for patients treated, tests completed, and ER visits processed. Block Funding would pay the fixed costs such as utilities and maintenance. Many healthcare systems worldwide use some version of this approach.

4 – Public/Private Partnership

Some countries run highly effective healthcare systems using this model, but realistically, I don’t think Canada is ready for it.  For some reason we hold on to a system that is literally allowing people to die.

NB ER's Roadblocks to Care

I watched this in real time, when I was in the Moncton Hospital ER, recently. .

From Appendicitis to ER Chaos: Why Healthcare in NB Must Change” 

From Appendicitis to ER Chaos: Why Healthcare in NB Must Change

October 1st started with mild abdominal pain that kept worsening. By 3:00 AM Thursday, I was in severe pain on my right side (appendicitis). I called an ambulance at 7:00 AM, but at the Moncton Hospital I was told to wait 6–8 hours in the ER waiting room. I left — unacceptable.

By 7:30 PM the pain was unbearable, so I went back. The ER was full, and after a couple of hours, patients stopped being called in. I was offered 2 Tylenol while waiting in agony. Parents with babies, people with injuries — all waiting. Some walked out angry after hours without being seen.

At 4:00 AM Friday, after begging for relief, I finally got pain medication and a recliner inside the ER. Staff were kind, but the system was broken. Over my 13.5-hour wait, at least 10 people gave up and left. The hospital has vending machines, charging stations, and regular vital checks — not to help patients, but to manage liability.

By 8:00 AM I had chest pain from exhaustion and missing my heart meds. Twice I asked for help before a nurse finally checked on me.

At 9:00 AM I was finally called in. Tests confirmed appendicitis. Thankfully, I wasn’t sent home with painkillers — untreated, it could have killed me.

At 11:30 AM I was admitted, put on IV fluids and antibiotics, and prepped for surgery. I witnessed paramedics stuck for entire shifts in the ER hallways because their patients couldn’t get a room.

By 4:00 PM I was placed in a room (in pediatrics, of all places), and at 7:15 PM I went into surgery. The surgical team was excellent, and I was back by 10:15 PM.

By Friday morning, I was recovering and discharged by 9:30 AM.

I’m grateful things ended well, but this could easily have gone the other way. I’ve seen code blues in NB ERs — that should never happen. The staff do their best, but the system is collapsing.

Patients should not have to decide if it’s “life or death” before going to an ER.