UPEI says fundraising for its new medical school building is ahead of schedule
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CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Staffing shortages prompt closure of LifeLabs location in Thunder Bay, Ont., until October
One of three LifeLabs clinics in Thunder Bay, Ont., is closed until October due to staffing shortages. The Port Arthur Health Centre posted on Facebook Aug. 9 that the LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services facility within its building would be closed through the end of September. "Like many health-care providers across the country, we are experiencing staffing challenges. As a result, we have made the decision to temporarily close this location to ensure we can resume operations safely and effectively," a spokesperson for LifeLabs wrote in an email to CBC News on Friday. "Our priority is to maintain the highest standards of care and safety for our patients." The Port Arthur location is expected to reopen on Oct. 1, LifeLabs says. The two remaining LifeLabs in the northwestern Ontario city are located at 1040 Oliver Rd., near Lakehead University, and 1265 Arthur St E., on the city's south side. Dr. Sarah Newbery is a rural generalist family physician based in Marathon, as well as the associate dean of physician workforce strategy at Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) University. In smaller communities in the region where there are no private lab clinics, such as Marathon, Manitouwadge and Terrace Bay, all lab testing is done through hospitals, she said. "One of the challenges is that options can be limited, hours can sometimes be limited," Newbery said. "On the plus side, because lab services are so crucial to the way in which hospitals function, keeping those lab services open is really important and I think provides a really helpful service for community-based lab access as well." For those who are used to going to private clinics, having to go elsewhere may lead them to postpone their testing, she said. "As soon as we ask people to travel for something, even if it's across town, even if it's just a simple taxi ride away, that puts up a small barrier for some people to being able to get those services," Newbery said. "Any time we put up a barrier to accessing services, we run the risk that people won't actually be able to follow through on that and that their health and their health outcomes may be impacted by that." Having as many medical services as possible under the same roof helps to eliminate those barriers, she said, and means people will be more likely to get testing done. Any time we put up a barrier to accessing services, we run the risk that people won't actually be able to follow through on that and that their health and their health outcomes may be impacted by that. While LifeLabs did not specify the nature of the staffing shortages in Thunder Bay, Newbery said there's been ongoing challenges with a lack of medical lab technicians across the region. "I think the more that we can support the health human resources that we need to ensure the sustainability of services, the better off access to services in the north will be," she said. "Looking at how we might incent people to be able to stay — particularly working in our hospital environments but in all of the lab facility environments in northern Ontario — feels important to those health human resources." Her advice for those left scrambling is to consult with their physician or nurse practitioner about the urgency of their testing. "Being clear about the expectation of timing, getting those tests done, is important — and then trying to work out where the nearest place that you can get that done in as convenient a way as possible is important," Newbery said.
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Canada's vaccine injury program declared her dead. But she's not
The company that runs Canada's Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) wrongly declared a B.C. woman dead and didn't correct its mistake for months despite multiple requests, Global News has learned. Carol Messenger of Comox, B.C., learned that on Oct. 2, 2024, she was pronounced a 'deceased claimant' by the support program, a year after she had initially filed a claim for financial compensation. As Messenger's application moved through the VISP process, program staff sent a letter by fax to her physician's office, requesting her medical records. The records are required to assess all claims. A copy of the letter called Messenger a 'deceased claimant.' View image in full screen 'They actually said I was dead,' said Messenger, a retired Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services captain. 'I don't feel dead. Unbelievable.' Asked about being declared deceased while battling a life-altering injury that left her fully, and then later, partially disabled, from the waist down, Messenger choked up and replied: 'It really didn't feel good, you know?' VISP is administered by an Ottawa-based consulting company, Oxaro Inc., on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada, which oversees the effort under an agreement signed in 2021. So far, Oxaro has been paid $56 million for the deal, which is up for renewal in 2026. Oxaro declined to answer any questions about Messenger's case or say whether its staff had wrongly declared any other VISP claimants deceased, citing 'privacy reasons.' Advertisement In an emailed statement to Global News, however, PHAC spokesman Mark Johnson said: 'We are saddened to hear the details of Ms. Messenger's case.' Johnson wrote that PHAC was unaware of Oxaro erroneously declaring any VISP claimants dead 'through the claims administration process,' but added that PHAC does not have access to claimants' personal information or records of their communications with Oxaro. 'PHAC takes the concerns raised by Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) claimants and beneficiaries seriously. The VISP was created to support vulnerable people who need it,' the PHAC spokesman wrote. Johnson reiterated that a previously-announced federal audit of Oxaro's VISP administration work is now underway and has been accelerated, adding that it will also now 'include a review of their management processes relating to documentation.' 'PHAC cannot yet comment on its findings. Results of the audit will help inform next steps regarding the operation and delivery of the VISP,' he added. In a previous response, an Oxaro spokesman said VISP is a new and demand-based program 'with an unknown and fluctuating number of applications and appeals submitted by claimants.' 'In collaboration with PHAC, OXARO continues to adapt its approach based on actual number of applications and appeals received. We aim at providing a process that ensures that all cases are treated fairly and with the same care, respect, and due diligence,' the company said. Messenger decided to share her story after reading Global News' five-month investigation into the federal program, which revealed that: Of the $50.6 million in taxpayer money Oxaro received, $33.7 million has been spent on administrative costs. Injured Canadians have received $16.9 million. Updated Health Canada figures released in July show the company has now received $54.1 million and spent $36.3 million on administration costs, with $18.1 million paid to injured Canadians. PHAC and Oxaro underestimated the number of injury claims VISP would get, initially predicting 40 per year, escalating to 400 valid claims annually. However, more than 3,317 applications have been filed. More than 1,738 people, like Carol Messenger, await decisions on their claims. Former Oxaro workers described a workplace that lacked the gravitas of a program meant to assist the seriously injured and chronically ill, featuring office drinking, ping pong, slushies and Netflix streaming at desks. Some injured applicants say they have faced a revolving door of unreachable VISP case managers and require online fundraising campaigns to survive. Some VISP applicants and former Oxaro staff said the consulting company was unequipped to deliver fully on the program's mission to deliver 'timely and fair' support, and questions emerged about why the PHAC chose this company over others. 4:04 'Chaos' inside Federal Vaccine Injury Support Program If Messenger's face seems familiar to people in British Columbia, it's because they may have seen her in their living rooms for years as a TV spokeswoman for Vancouver Fire. Now, the former first responder who served others needs help herself, a shift in identity that she found difficult. Messenger believes her experiences with VISP show that Oxaro is ill-equipped to deliver the services that she and thousands of other ill or injured claimants need in a timely way. View image in full screen Global News has reviewed Messenger's medical records, in which her doctors characterize her spinal cord injury as an adverse reaction to her COVID-19 vaccination. When Messenger learned that VISP had declared her dead, she sent an email to her VISP case manager, who emailed an apology a few days later. 'My sincere apologies for the error made on our path,' her case manager replied via email. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My sincere apologies for the error made on our path," her case manager replied via email. Global News is not identifying the case managers involved because VISP suggested there are safety concerns associated with having their full names publicly revealed. The case manager also told Messenger they would notify the VISP medical records collections team 'to fix this error' and send a corrected records request to Messenger's doctor. Advertisement Two weeks after the dubious fax arrived, the medical clinic where Messenger's physician works sent a fax to VISP's medical records collection unit. In its message to VISP medical records collection staff, the clinic stated it had twice tried to reach somebody at VISP to correct the records request, asking that they either show proof that Messenger was dead or fix the request. The clinic says there was no response. Delays dragged on Instead of fixing the error and expediting the woman's case, the delays dragged on. Messenger says it took her and her doctor's office at least five months to have VISP finally access her records, further delaying her claim for financial support. Nearly two years later, Messenger still awaits a decision on her VISP application, having paid for extensive physiotherapy, counselling and other medical expenses. Her claim is now in a pre-medical assessment phase in which her medical records are being redacted so physicians don't know her identity when they review her case. They are subsequently submitted to a three-member board of physicians for review. She says VISP told her that it will take another 3.5 to 5 months before any decision is made on her claim. It will take more time after that to process any claim receipts she submits. 3:02 Federal Vaccine Injury Support Program leaving some injured people waiting for years Messenger has become very frustrated with how Oxaro is administering the VISP program. 'Very low confidence. Absolutely no expectations,' she said. 'Like, how can you have (it), you know? I don't feel confident in the administration, communication, and timeliness and competency, really,' said Messenger. 'Hollow' apology Messenger told Global News the apology she received was hollow, and two of her case managers tried to explain their errors by saying they are overloaded. 'I haven't felt that other than, 'Oh, we're so sorry, we're so busy, you know we'll do our best, we'll get back to you,' like really they're just false words,' Messenger said. 'All I can pray is that when their contract is up, that they will never have this again or ever have the ability to impact people so negatively with the lack of professionalism and the delay in providing support, financial or otherwise, to people who are truly suffering,' Messenger added. Mistake concerns health policy expert Jennifer Keelan, a veteran health policy researcher and consultant, said she is concerned by the mistake in Messenger's file. 'Beside the fact that it's wrong to get this wrong, we have a moral and civic duty to get this right,' she said. 'This person, if they were injured by that vaccine, has not been done right by our program and Canada.' Advertisement 'I don't think anybody would accept this level of administrative snafus, even on a single, isolated case,' Keelan added. 2:41 'Slap in the face': Calls for investigation into Vaccine Injury Support Program Keelan, a former professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, has studied vaccine injury support programs around the world. The Auditor-General of Canada or the House of Commons Health Committee should investigate how Oxaro is administering the VISP, Keelan said. 'How many months would it take to fix that one report of a dead living person? Should be enough to red flag that and maybe audit,' Keelan told Global News. 'Why would that create a snafu that would last multiple, multiple months?… Isn't that a day of phone calls (to resolve)?' View image in full screen Jennifer Keelan is a health policy expert and consultant. She is a former professor at the University of Toronto. Global News 'I think an inquiry could be useful in at least understanding why a company with very little background in medical risk assessments was assigned that contract,' Keelan said, adding that she would prefer a program manager with more medical and risk management experience. In its 155-page proposal to administer VISP in 2021, Oxaro (then called Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc.) listed two experiences it had with health claims adjudication. One was operating the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders, a small federal program that pays a lump sum to families of emergency workers who died. The other was acting as liquidator of Union of Canada Life Insurance after the small firm became insolvent in 2012, processing outstanding accident, life and medical claims until 2015. Keelan emphasized that VISP is not an ordinary government program. 'This is a pillar of a national immunization scheme, and our national immunization scheme relies heavily on public confidence and public acceptance,' the researcher said.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
This summer camp in P.E.I. gives students a chance to become veterinarians for a week
The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI hosts a series of summer camps to give young Islanders a behind-the-scenes look into the world of veterinary medicine, including some hands-on experience with animals. This year, the camp also incorporated Indigenous healing methods into the programming. CBC's Ken Linton went to check it out.
