Advocates work to put health care on the radar as premiers meet in Ontario
The post-pandemic crisis in health care has taken centre stage at the Council of the Federation in recent years as premiers have pushed Ottawa for more funding.
This year, there's a concern that staff shortages and long wait times will take a back seat as the premiers focus on trade and the economy.
The Canadian Medical Association, which represents physicians, is focusing its message on the health-care system's footprint in the national economy.
CMA president Dr. Margot Burnell says she will be stressing that healthy communities are essential to a healthy economy.
The Canadian Nurses Association, meanwhile, is working to convince premiers to harmonize their licensing systems to break down interprovincial barriers to labour mobility.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.
Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Almost half of NHS England waiting list patients yet to have initial appointment
Around three million people in England have had no further health care since being referred to a hospital waiting list, new data suggests. NHS England figures last month estimated 7.36 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of May, relating to just under 6.23 million patients – with the analysis from MBI Health suggesting almost half of those have been left in limbo. Referring to the issue as a 'frontlog' that contributes to increasing NHS waiting list times, MBI said the problem 'has gone unchallenged for too long', with an estimated 2.99 million people waiting for their first clinical contact. MBI's analysis found that around 70% of referral to treatment pathways fall into the category of being 'unseen' since the patient's GP referred them to a specialist. Delays in making a first assessment can lead to late diagnosis, worsening symptoms and pressure on emergency services. The analysis found that ear, nose and throat (ENT), trauma and orthopaedics, gastroenterology, ophthalmology and gynaecology and obstetrics departments were consistently the specialist departments with the greatest number of patients not seen for the first time. As part of the Government's 10-year health plan, the NHS is expected to meet its target of carrying out 92% per cent of routine operations and appointments within 18 weeks by March 2029 – a target that has not been achieved for almost a decade. The latest figures show how challenging that target will be given an estimated one million of the three million unseen patients have already gone more than 18 weeks without receiving any care. 'If accurate, three million people are trapped in an invisible waiting list crisis, stuck without basic diagnostic tests of first appointments while their conditions worsen,' Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association, told the Guardian. 'The scale is staggering, as nearly half of all patients on a waiting list haven't been seen by anyone. That's not a healthcare service; that's a breakdown. 'These aren't just statistics. They're people checking their phones daily for hospital calls that never come, unable to plan their lives while their symptoms deteriorate.' Last month it was found people of working age are making up a growing proportion of those on the NHS waiting list for treatment in England. Data tables published for the first time by NHS England also show people in the most deprived parts of the country are more likely to wait more than a year to start hospital treatment than those in the least deprived. The figures, analysed by the PA news agency, showed 56.1% of those on the list at the end of June this year were of working age (defined as age 19 to 64), up from 55.8% a year ago and 55.0% in June 2022. At the same time, the proportion of people on the waiting list under the age of 19 has fallen, standing at 10.8% in June this year, down from 11.2% a year earlier and 11.9% in June 2022. The proportion who are over 65 has remained broadly unchanged at around 33.1%. People of working age are also more likely to have to wait more than a year to start treatment (3.0% of patients in this age group at the end of June) than those over 65 (2.5%). However, the proportion is the same as those under 19 (also 3.0%).
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Pfizer CEO attending $25 million fundraiser at Trump's golf club after president demands drug price cuts, sources say
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is among those expected at a fundraiser President Trump is attending Friday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, sources told CBS News. The fundraiser for the pro-Trump super political action committee MAGA Inc. aims to raise about $25 million, one of the sources said. One day prior to the event, Mr. Trump sent letters to pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, demanding they lower U.S. drug prices to more evenly match what other countries pay. The White House's letters to 17 drug companies, including AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi, asked for commitments within 60 days to sell drugs for Medicaid patients and all new drugs at "most favored nation" rates. The president posted images of the letters to Truth Social. Mr. Trump signed an executive order in May telling federal officials to draw up "most favored nation" regulations unless pharmaceutical companies made progress toward cutting prices. This week's letters — which were addressed to Bourla and the other CEOs — accused the drugmakers of promising "more of the same" since then. The president said Friday he's "gone to war with the drug companies and, frankly, other countries" on the drug price issue. "I think we're going to be very successful fairly soon. We'll have drug prices coming down by 500, 600 800 even 1,200 percent," Mr. Trump said in an interview with Newsmax on Friday afternoon. The high cost of prescription drugs has vexed both parties for decades. Proposals to tie drug prices for U.S. patients to the typically much-lower rates charged in other developed countries have floated around for years, but the idea has faced some legal pushback. Meanwhile, drugmakers argue price caps could discourage innovation by making it harder to pay for research and development for new drugs. The industry also argues that Americans tend to have access to more groundbreaking drugs than residents of foreign countries with stricter price regulations — and says high drug prices are just one part of a broader trend of higher healthcare spending in the U.S. Bourla has engaged with Mr. Trump in the past. Pfizer was one of the drugmakers that was picked to rapidly develop COVID-19 vaccines in the first Trump administration's "Operation Warp Speed." And two weeks before Mr. Trump's second inauguration, Bourla and other Pfizer executives traveled to Mar-A-Lago for meetings, the Financial Times has previously reported. CBS News has reached out to Pfizer and the White House for comment.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Winnipeg couple leaves encampment for drug-free supportive housing
A homeless Winnipeg couple began a new chapter on Friday, moving into transitional housing with hopes of turning a page toward long-term addictions recovery. Anna Moar and Kadin McCron lost their apartment a couple of months ago due to a relapse following more than four years of sobriety, they said. Since then, they have been bouncing around from encampment to encampment, eventually settling on a relatively private riverbank in Winnipeg's Wolseley neighbourhood. "Our goal is to try to get as far away from the drugs and the drug users as possible, so that way we can battle ourselves through the addiction and battle ourselves through our problems and try and make a change," said McCron. He said it was at the riverbank where they connected with someone on July 25 who contacted St. Boniface Street Links, an outreach organization that helps homeless people and people with addictions. By the end of that day, the organization had come to meet them and helped them move to its 24/7 safe space on St. Mary's Road. "I'm still actually bamboozled about it," said McCron, 30. On Friday, the pair moved into the organization's building on Fountain Street, a drug-free transitional housing complex in the Centennial neighbourhood that provides residents around-the-clock support and includes 24/7 security. "I'm surprised it happened so fast. I wasn't expecting it," said Moar, 33. The couple's move comes at a time when they're both eager to leave a chaotic life behind and stay sober, with Moar also needing additional medical care. She's awaiting surgery for a broken hip and gets around with a walker and wheelchair. Speaking hand in hand, the couple of a year and a half said they've been leaning on each other through the challenges of addictions and pain. "I need him," Moar said. "I'm happy we get to start a new life." Life at an encampment The pair say their two-month period of homelessness was marked by attacks from people trying to steal their things or take over their camp and by frequent hours-long searches for food, water and supplies. "You're stuck in that survival mode," McCron said. Because of Moar's condition and limited mobility, McCron said those responsibilities often rested with him. "He would pretty much put all the blankets and stuff underneath me, so that way it would be comfortable for my hip," Moar said. "It was pretty hard. It hurt." They also attempted to distance themselves from "hardcore drug addicts," encounters McCron said sometimes led to fights. McCron, though, would have to keep watch throughout the night, saying he sometimes used small amounts of drugs to stay alert and awake. "I didn't really want to use it, but sometimes I had no choice," he said. Before the couple connected with St. Boniface Street Links, they said they had been visited by another organization's outreach team, which dropped off food and supplies and helped them apply for emergency housing. McCron said he and Moar declined to overnight at their shelter due to concerns over drug use there. "What most people don't realize is getting sober is the easy part. Staying sober is the hard part," McCron said. "You're constantly battling cravings. You're constantly battling the thoughts." Counselling and education The pair say they hope their new building will help give them a meaningful opportunity to stave off drug use and provide stability throughout Moar's recovery from surgery. McCron described himself as growing up in a military household marked by alcoholism, and Moar said she was sex trafficked as a teen. They'll have access to counselling and programs, including for addictions and complex trauma, building manager Ainslee Trudeau said. "I'm happy to say that people come in, and we help slowly, baby steps, show them how to be independent, you know, whether that's cooking on a budget, shopping on a budget, whatever the case may be," Trudeau said. A second chance on Fountain Street Michelle Wesley with Street Links said she believes the community-style living is part of what makes the model successful. "It's about, 'How do I live without depending on a substance to help me move forward on a day-to-day basis?'" Wesley said. Moar lived in the building years before it was renovated and run by Street Links. Seeing how it has changed is giving them hope they can, too. "I'm happy we get to start a new life," she said.
