Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Canadian Health Information Podcast

Whether it’s an infection, a fall or some other unintended outcome, hospital harm remains a serious concern. It's something the Canadian Institute for Health Information tracks, with the latest report showing one in 17 hospital stays in Canada is linked with some sort of patient harm.

That’s more than just a number. It represents a real person whose recovery may have taken an unexpected turn.

The data also shows rates have stayed relatively stable since the pandemic, but are still higher than they were before COVID-19.

So, what’s putting patients at risk and, more importantly, what can hospitals do to stop harm before it happens?

In this episode of the Canadian Health Information Podcast, host Avis Favaro speaks with Jennifer Zelmer, President and CEO of Healthcare Excellence Canada, and Dr. Tiffany Blair, of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, about what’s behind patient safety challenges in Canadian hospitals — and the opportunities to make care safer.

They discuss the impact of mounting pressure on the health system, including workforce strain and staff turnover, and how these challenges can affect the continuity and safety of care.

The good news is that CIHI data also offers a roadmap for improvement because safer care is about spotting the warning signs, learning from the evidence and building systems that make things go right in the first place.

The conversation spotlights the Hospital Harm Improvement Resource, developed by Healthcare Excellence Canada in partnership with CIHI, and how it can help health care organizations turn evidence into action to reduce preventable harm.

As Zelmer puts it, “Hospitals right across the country are using these data and the opportunities to improve, and they use it in different ways.”

Because improving patient safety isn’t just about responding when something goes wrong. It’s about designing care to make harm less likely in the first place.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Did you know that 99% of Canadian doctors surveyed reported that disconnected health systems affect their ability to provide care? And almost half report having seen a patient who experienced harm — like a missed diagnosis or worsening disease — as a result.

Canada’s health information still lives in silos — in separate systems, medical offices, hospitals, and provinces and territories that can’t communicate when it matters most. In this episode, host Avis Favaro speaks with 3 women who have experienced the consequences of disconnected care first-hand. And all 3 are now part of the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s team working on the medical language that will join clinics and hospitals across provinces and territories to help health information follow patients — wherever they are.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

What if the future of long-term care isn’t about moving seniors into nursing homes, but instead about bringing the nursing homes to them? In this episode, host Avis Favaro explores Nursing Home Without Walls, an innovative Canadian program that is helping older adults remain independent, happy and healthy while continuing to live at home. From walking clubs, shopping trips and bus tours to practical everyday support, the program is redefining what aging in place can look like.

Joining the conversation is Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, professor of nursing at the University of Moncton and creator of the Nursing Home Without Walls program. She shares how this simple idea has grown into a province-wide initiative in New Brunswick that is now expanding across Canada, and why reimagining the role of nursing homes could help ease pressure on the health care system.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows emergency departments are dealing with a record high number of visits, 16.1 million and climbing. And more numbers reveal the pressures that are leaving patients stuck in emergency departments for hours or days, putting them and health workers at risk. 

In this episode, host Avis Favaro discusses the picture the data paints — with Dr. Fraser Mackay, an emergency physician and member of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and Cheryl Chui, Director of Health System Analytics at CIHI. The problems aren’t just in how emergency departments are functioning, but in what’s happening beyond the department itself.

Canada has one of the lowest rates of hospital beds per population among OECD countries. And many of these beds are filled with patients waiting for discharge to other places. 

The discussion looks at what’s driving the crisis and why solutions have been so difficult to implement. 

Additional audio courtesy Global and CBC News. 

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

How do you safeguard Canada’s public health in an era of unprecedented upheaval — from the growth of health misinformation and conspiracy theories to advice from Dr. Google and looming pandemics? That is the role of Canada’s new chief public health officer, Dr. Joss Reimer — a physician from Manitoba and former president of the Canadian Medical Association — who began her new job on April 1, 2026.

In this wide-ranging interview, host Avis Favaro talks with Dr. Reimer about the origins of her commitment to public service, how sleep deprivation and burnout were turning points in her career, what her work in Nairobi taught her about looking beyond our borders and how leading Manitoba’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce shifted how she communicates. 

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Every day across Canada, seniors who live in long-term care (LTC) homes are sent to hospital for medical care, some during their final days of life. In fact, according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, nearly 1 in 5 residents transferred from long-term care to the hospital die within a day — meaning they were likely near the end of their lives regardless of the urgent problem that led to the transfer. This raises the question, were these transfers necessary, ethical and what the residents really wanted?

Host Avis Favaro talks with Jill Oliver, an ethicist from the William Osler Health System in Brampton, Ontario, about a new program called POET, which stands for the Prevention Of Error-based Transfers. The aim: to make sure residents have their wishes respected, especially at the end of life. And 2 staff members at an LTC home that adopted POET — Lindsay Passfield and Lori Norris-Dudley — describe the profound difference the program has made in the lives and deaths of the residents they care for.

This episode is available in English

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

There are some 3.8 million men across Canada who are 65 and older- with studies showing once they leave the workforce they lose connections, friendships, and purpose. Loneliness in this group boosts the risk of heart disease, depression, dementia and even suicide. 

So how do you help keep this large and growing group of older Canadians mentally and physically healthy, and out of hospital and long-term care? We're going to introduce you to something called "Shedicine” - or Shed Medicine. These are men's groups - called Men's Sheds- sprouting up across the country and around the world. They’re turning sawdust, tools, and hobbies into conversations and companionship. And it's medicinal, say advocates.

It's an important example of the power of community senior support programs. Surveys show that over 90% of older Canadians want to stay in their homes and their communities. So, Canada needs to tap into the over 8,000 independent groups like Men's Sheds to keep seniors physically and mentally healthy.

In this episode host Avis Favaro talks with Robert Goluch, President of Men’s Sheds Canada, about this relatively new program to help older men stay happy, healthy and living longer and Raza Mirza, a gerontologist and chief operating officer of Help Age Canada, a non-profit charity that works with community-based senior service organizations to keep seniors in their communities and out of hospital.

This episode is available in English. 

https://www.youtube.com/@MensShedsCanada

https://www.linkedin.com/company/men-s-sheds-canada/

https://www.instagram.com/menssheds_canada/

https://www.facebook.com/people/Mens-Sheds-Canada/61573205204280/

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Canada has a new distinction. Our country has been crowned the second-largest Ozempic user in the world. Most of us know about Ozempic’s class of drugs, GLP-1s, for weight loss, courtesy of testimonials from celebrities like Oprah Winfrey. But the reality is Ozempic, or semaglutide, was first developed for type 2 diabetes, a serious disease that can lead to blindness, kidney failure, amputations and heart attacks. 

New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that our health system has gone from spending about $13 million a year on Ozempic to over $800 million a year — an increase of nearly 6,000%. CIHI’s pharmaceutical data tool allows users to explore this dramatic rise in spending and see how drug costs are shifting across the country. It’s now the fastest growing drug expense for the public purse. Sticker shock for some, but as host Avis Favaro discovers, according to diabetes specialist and University of Calgary professor Dr. David Lau, paying upfront for this miracle drug will be well worth it in the long run.

This episode is available in English only.

 

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

From going without electricity to relying on food banks, Canada’s seniors are struggling to age with dignity. Data shows that 1 in 5 live at the poverty line, with rent and housing eating up their meagre incomes. As well, 91% of seniors say they want to live at home, but the support isn’t always there — for example, home care may not reach seniors in rural communities. All of this is leaving our stressed health systems to fill the gap. And the pressure is only growing. In fact, in 2026, Canada officially became a super-aged nation — meaning that at least 20% of the population (1 in 5 people) is age 65 or older. 

In this episode, host Avis Favaro speaks with seniors across Canada who are struggling to make ends meet, as well as with Dr. Samir Sinha — a geriatric specialist at the Sinai Health System and an advisor to Canada’s National Institute on Ageing — on why, despite decades of warning, our country seems wholly unprepared to care for our aging population.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

In a world where AI sits in our pockets and answers our questions in seconds, how do we know when to trust the technology with our personal health? On today’s episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Alvina Nadeem, an engineer, mother and ovarian cancer survivor who says AI likely saved her life when she input symptoms that she had ignored into ChatGPT and it flagged the possibility she had cancer. 

But researchers from the University of Waterloo, including Sirisha Rambhatla, Director of the Critical Machine Learning (ML) Lab at the University of Waterloo, caution that using artificial intelligence to self-diagnose illness can misinform. They found that AI was right about a third of the time when prompted using real-world questions.

Bottom line: AI can be a powerful tool for health care, but experts urge it needs some kind of guardrails to prevent it from doing more harm than good. 

The episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

According to CIHI’s new report on the state of Canada’s health workforce, 5.7 million Canadians don’t have a primary care provider. In this episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Emily Stevenson, the director of Practice and Policy with the Ontario Physiotherapy Association, and family physician Dr. Alexander Glover about one way to ease pressures on family doctors due to an aging and injured population. It’s a growing trend in Canada and other parts of the world known as first-contact physiotherapy: allowing patients to see a physiotherapist when they have back and joint pain, arthritis and sports injuries instead of waiting to see a doctor. Studies show that first-contact physiotherapy helps patients faster — and at a lower cost to the system — while freeing up primary care providers for other patients in need. 

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

When you call 911, police, fire or paramedics respond. But did you know they have no access to any medical information before they arrive? They’ll only get it at the scene — if you’re conscious and can tell them, if someone else is there, or if you have a medical bracelet or card with details. But even then, studies show the information, which is relayed by phone, takes an average of 7 minutes from dispatch, which delays medical treatment.

In this episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Leslie McGill, president and CEO of MedicAlert, about a world-first experiment with Ottawa’s emergency services to get 911 dispatchers access to health data, not when first responders reach the patient, but in the blink of an eye.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

New data shows that 2 in 5 Canadians say they aren’t getting any or enough mental health care to improve their lives. Host Avis Favaro talks about a first, and historic, step for mental health in Canada. Data collected from a new agreement between Ottawa and the provinces and territories is being used to measure how mental health services in the community are being delivered — and how new targeted funding is improving those services. 

You’ll hear from 3 people committed to improving mental health services. Sachin Latti is a first responder from Vancouver who ran across Canada to raise attention and funds for mental health services. He says he witnessed mental health issues and substance use that were off the charts. Cheryl Chui is the lead on CIHI’s Taking the pulse report on wait times for counselling and the disconnect between hospital care and follow-up in the community. And Dr. Kevin Young is highlighting a remarkable project that has cut hospital readmissions for severe mental health crises by 400%.

Explore the Taking the Pulse, 2025 report here.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

“Canada First” is a phrase politicians have been using a lot lately. But it’s been focused primarily on steel, aluminum and other consumer products. Nurse and scientist Anne Snowdon wants to change that. She’s been documenting Canada’s chaotic and vulnerable medical supply system that she says puts patients and health care workers at risk. There are over 3,000 shortages of critical medical tools and medications every year — with Canada suffering the highest rate of disruption in the world. And most of these tools that are used to care for Canadians are being trucked in from other countries. If borders close or trade wars expand, the risk to health care front lines could be catastrophic. The COVID-19 pandemic, says Snowdon, was a warning. 

The goal is to make Canada’s invisible health care supply chain visible — spotting shortages quickly, promoting the sharing of products across provinces and territories, and preventing the waste of expensive medical equipment. Her team at the Supply Chain Advancement Network in Health (SCAN Health) has also launched a Built Here: Bought Here test website — helping hospital procurement teams reduce the massive reliance on imported products by looking for Canadian makers of medical supplies.

This episode is available in English. 

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

 Chet Walker wants to warn Canadians about how dangerous e-scooters can be. His son Austin was killed after a driver hit him while he was riding home on an e-scooter. In fact, CIHI data shows a 22% increase in hospitalizations from e-scooter injuries across the country. Doctors are starting to send out an alert — as they document the rising fractures, brain injuries and worse, with most riders not wearing helmets.

Host Avis Favaro meets Dr. Brian Rowe, who studies e-scooter injuries in Edmonton, and Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, a pediatric emergency specialist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto who believes children younger than 16 should not be allowed to ride these powerful devices.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

What can we learn about the mysteries of autism by combining artificial intelligence and Canada's valuable health data? That is the question posed by Dr. Christine Armour, pediatrician and geneticist at the University of Ottawa, and a physician scientist at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Join host Avis Favaro as she learns about a first-of-its-kind study being led by Dr. Armour and her team at CHEO, into whether machine learning can effectively analyze health data on Canadian mothers and babies in an effort to turn it into a tool to identify children at risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies show early detection and treatment can improve health outcomes.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Imagine being just 8 years old and having to translate your parents’ medical information into a language they understand. That’s the story of Kayathiri Ganeshamoorthy, who’s made a career out of helping others avoid the misunderstandings and medical errors that come from inaccurate and poor communication. This episode is about how CIHI is drilling down into equity sources of hospital-based medical errors, as data from a recent report shows that people who don’t speak English or French are 30% more likely to experience a harmful event while in hospital. So how do we fix these gaps? Host Avis Favaro looks at what this report adds to the long history of patient safety — a decades-old mission of Dr. Ross Baker, a University of Toronto health policy scientist — and how that 8-year-old grew up to lead a special translation system in Alberta hospitals.

 

This episode is available in English only.  

 

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

He’s a doctor and scientist who’s helped steer Canada’s public health systems through new diseases like COVID-19 and through a revolution of data-based health care. Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo and CIHI’s former Board chair, joins host Avis Favaro to discuss his long career as an academic and the insights he gained as chair of a federal expert advisory panel that called for an end to barriers that prevent health data from being shared more widely in this country — roadblocks that he says are stopping Canada from becoming a health information powerhouse.

 

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

What are the challenges of leading a national health data organization like CIHI?  

CIHI’s new CEO, Dr. Anderson Chuck, talks about transformation in a changing world — from giving patients, health practitioners and researchers faster access to data, to improving analysis and context around the numbers.

Find out his vision for how data can power the future of health care and what part of his new job keeps him up at night.

Click here to learn more about the way we’re transforming to help ensure a healthier Canada.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

How far do you have to travel for health care? Down the street? To a hospital in another town? How about to an entirely different province? A new CIHI report shows that 1 in 11 people admitted to hospital in Canada have what’s called a high travel burden. Meaning there’s no clinic, no hospital — sometimes not even roads to get to the medical care they need. In this episode, we meet Paula Alorut, an Inuit mother of 5 from Nunavut who travels over 2,000 kilometres to Ottawa to get medical care for her son. And Dr. Radha Jetty, who runs a special clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario for kids from Nunavut with medically complex needs and their families.

This episode is available in English. 

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Behind operating room doors, medical teams work under extreme pressure to save lives. And all that pressure can make for a toxic work environment. Research shows that many OR staff and trainees report being victims of uncivil behaviour — rude and demeaning comments, being ignored or sometimes colleagues not even knowing their name. Dr. Carol-Anne Moulton, of University Health Network, is on a new medical mission — to change the culture of operating rooms at one of Canada’s biggest hospitals. The goal? To design ways of promoting civility and friendlier, happier staff while ultimately making things safer for patients.

Click here to see an example exercise from Dr. Moulton’s project.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

It’s called the hidden killer. That’s because there’s little public awareness about sepsis and not a lot of data on how many people it really affects. But Amalie Henze is out to change all that. This Canadian teen knows its dangers all too well after almost dying from septic shock and having her hands and feet amputated to save her life. She’s not alone. Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud has been researching sepsis for years — and she wants to get better data on the true number of cases while creating a national strategy to help save lives from sepsis. This episode is available in English. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Each year, there are over 15 million visits to emergency departments across Canada. But new CIHI data shows that 15% of these — that’s 1 in 7 — could potentially have been treated by a doctor or nurse practitioner in primary care. While ED doctors don’t want to discourage anyone from going to emergency, they do acknowledge that this statistic highlights the crisis in primary care happening in Canada. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

“You have dementia” are 3 words no one wants to hear. For the three-quarters of a million Canadians living with the disease and the 1.7 million projected to develop it, it’s a painful reality they all must face. But what happens after diagnosis — to patients, families and caregivers? Host Avis Favaro speaks with

• “Care-y godmother” Katrina Prescott, a caregiving coach who helps families get the help she didn’t while she was looking after her mother, who lived with dementia

• Retired family doctor David Hood, who cared for hundred of patients during his 4-decade career, as well as both of his parents after they were diagnosed

For more data go to CIHI's report titled Understanding health care trajectories of people living with dementia.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

40 amputations a day are performed at hospitals across Canada. And the single biggest culprit is diabetes. Host Avis Favaro meets with • Harish Rangan, who knows first-hand what it’s like to lose a limb to the disease • Dr. Karim Manji, director of the Zivot Limb Preservation Centre in Calgary, whose team is working on ways to reduce the number of amputations, with encouraging early successes This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

In this special edition of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro sits down with David O’Toole as he contemplates the biggest challenges and successes of his 10 years as CIHI’s president and CEO.

To read more about the Pan-Canadian Health Data Charter click here.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

With an exodus of family doctors — due to burnout caused by heavy workloads, difficulties getting patient referrals and financial stress — 1 in 5 Canadians do not have direct access to primary care. Why is family medicine so important and what can we do to repair this over-burdened health care sector? Listen as host Avis Favaro speaks with 2 physicians who say they know how to turn this around — and that every Canadian should have the right to basic health care near their homes. Guests are • Dr. Jane Philpott, Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, and Director, School of Medicine, Queen’s University; family physician; and former federal minister of health • Dr. Tara Kiran, Fidani Chair of Improvement and Innovation, University of Toronto; and Family Physician and Scientist, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

According to the latest CIHI data, almost all (93%) patients experiencing homelessness were admitted to hospital via the emergency department — a high proportion that suggests inadequate access to primary care. In this episode of the CHIP, we’ll hear about the complex health needs of the growing number of people who are unhoused and turning to hospitals for help, and how doctors are working toward solutions. Guests are • Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, Alberta • Dr. Andrew Bond, executive medical officer at Inner City Health Associates and co-founder of the Canadian Network for the Health and Housing of People Experiencing Homelessness (CNH3) This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

From staffing shortages and physician burnout to department closures and lengthy wait times, there is little question that Canada’s emergency departments are overwhelmed. Some EDs are so busy that hallways are packed with gurneys of patients waiting days to be admitted or, in some cases, choosing to walk away without receiving the emergency care they need. In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro sits down with guests working on the front lines to discuss the ongoing crisis gripping Canada’s emergency departments, the impact on workers and patients, and what’s being done to ease the burden: • Dr. Fraser Mackay, emergency physician and assistant director of Workforce Planning for the Department of Emergency Medicine in Saint John, New Brunswick • David Leary, a veteran paramedic and spokesperson for Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

As Canada’s population ages, it is expected that an increasing number of people will become frail. Individuals living with frailty have an increased risk of the following: hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, hospital readmissions, emergency department visits and in-hospital death. New data shows that more than one-third of all hospitalized older adults in Canada are at risk of frailty. On this episode of the Canadian Health Information Podcast, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Kenneth Rockwood, clinical research professor of frailty and aging at Dalhousie University in Halifax, about the harms of frailty and what we can do to better protect older adults at risk. This episode is available in English only. Learn more about frailty risk here: https://www.dal.ca/sites/gmr/our-tools/clinical-frailty-scale.html Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Hospital harm — medical conditions that patients experience in hospital that they did not have when they were admitted — is on the rise. A new CIHI analysis shows that 1 in 17 patients admitted to hospital was unintentionally harmed during their stay. Meanwhile, nurses and other health care workers charged with caring for patients in Canada are struggling. Sick time and overtime hours are skyrocketing. In this episode of the CHIP, we are joined by Kate Parson, Health Human Resources program lead at CIHI; Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; Kathleen Finlay, founder and CEO of The Compassion Innovation Lab and founder of the Center for Patient Protection ; and Annette Elliott Rose, vice president of Clinical Care Strategy and chief nurse executive at IWK Health to discuss these findings and what they mean for patients and the people who care for them. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Sky-high temperatures, wildfires clouding cities with smoke, damaging floods and many people suffering from mental health issues related to anxiety about global warming. In this episode of the CHIP, we are joined by Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, to discuss the effects of climate change on health, some of the larger changes that are needed and what average people in Canada can do to help themselves and the environment.

This episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

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The federal government reached a funding agreement recently with Canada’s provinces and territories that will add roughly $46.2 billion in new money over 10 years to be directed at 4 priority areas: family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and a modernized health system. In this episode of the CHIP, we speak about what this agreement will mean for average people in Canada and how quickly we can expect to see the effect of this funding. Our guests are Dr. Jennifer Zelmer, president and CEO of Healthcare Excellence Canada; Annamarie Fuchs, a former registered nurse and author of Partners in Health Conversations; and Teri Price, whose brother died tragically in 2012 after falling through the cracks in our health care system. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

More people in Canada are receiving palliative care near the end of their lives than ever — but a lot of work remains. A new CIHI analysis shows there are still many who are not getting the care they need. In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Naheed Dosani — a palliative care physician at St. Michael’s Hospital at Unity Health Toronto, the lead physician for Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) at Inner City Health Associates and medical director at Kensington Hospice — about the future of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Virtual health care in Canada has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering Canadians unprecedented online access to medical professionals. Now, as the day-to-day effects of the pandemic are lessening in much of the country, the question on many minds is “will I still have this convenient option going forward?” In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Ewan Affleck, the senior medical advisor for health informatics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and chair of the Alberta Virtual Care Coordinating Body, about the future of virtual care in Canada and why he is so passionate about continuing its growth. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Canada’s health care systems were already facing numerous challenges with wait times for surgeries before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now those problems are far worse. On this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. David Urbach, head of the department of surgery at Women’s College Hospital and professor at the University of Toronto, about how hospitals and health systems in Canada are trying to deal with the huge backlog of surgeries and what could be done to fix the problems for the long term. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed some clear gaps in Canada’s health care systems, including the need to better understand the roots of health inequalities and disparities based on race. On this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa, poet, author, advocate and the only Black woman ever selected as sole valedictorian at the University of Toronto’s medical school, about the value of race-based data and the importance of Black representation in health care in Canada. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with nurse practitioners Cindy Fehr and Stan Marchuk about where their field fits in Canadian health care and the challenges they face.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

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Overuse of medical procedures and tests is a serious concern that costs Canada’s health care systems a lot of time and money and can even be harmful to patients. Host Avis Favaro is joined by Dr. Janet Reynolds and Dr. Wendy Levinson of Choosing Wisely Canada to discuss the roots of this issue, the progress made since a previous report on the topic in 2017 and alternatives to reduce overuse.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Canada is facing an unprecedented shortage of health care professionals. COVID-19 is partly to blame, with some doctors and nurses simply burned out by the huge demands the pandemic has put on them. But there are several other key factors, including severe workplace stresses and a large cohort entering retirement age. On this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro discusses the causes of these issues along with possible solutions with Dr. Leigh Chapman, Canada’s new chief nursing officer, and Dr. Doug Sinclair, the vice president of Medicine, Quality and Safety and former chief of emergency medicine at IWK Health Centre in Halifax.  

This episode is available in English only. 

Audio clips courtesy CBC News, CTV News, CityNews

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

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The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as Canadians knew it beginning in spring 2020, and among the hardest-hit groups were children and youth. On this week’s show, host Avis Favaro digs into the data with CIHI’s manager of Health System Analytics, Liudmila Husak. She is then joined by Chris Daken of Fredericton, N.B., who talks about losing his 16-year-old daughter, Lexi, to suicide amid the pandemic; and by Dr. Chris Wilkes, the division head for child and adolescent psychiatry for Alberta Health Services and the University of Calgary, on how mental health experts have been dealing with the effects the pandemic has had on our kids. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced health care systems across the country to rapidly shift priorities to help save lives, but the result has been a huge backlog in care that will likely take a long time to fix. On this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro chats with Laura Greer, who developed breast cancer while missing out on screening tests during the pandemic; thoracic surgeon Dr. Christian Finley of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton; orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kishore Mulpuri of BC Children’s Hospital; and family physician Dr. Michael Green of Kingston, Ont., about their experiences during the height of the pandemic, the challenges health systems face and what needs to be done to get things back on track. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Season 3 of the Canadian Health Information Podcast is coming soon and here to introduce herself ia our new host, Avis Favaro. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of the health care system in Canada, and one area where that impact is being felt the most is organ donation and transplantation. In 2020, there was a 14% decrease in solid organ transplants, with 4,129 Canadians on wait-lists to receive a transplant and 276 deaths while on wait-lists. Dr. Joseph Kim, nephrologist and co-chair of Health Canada’s Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative Data System Working Group, and patient Sandra Holdsworth, liver transplant recipient and award-winning advocate, join us on the CHIP to discuss what it’s like for physicians and patients inside the system and what can be done to save and improve more lives. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Canada’s universal health care system is a pillar of Canadian pride, but factors including geography and social determinants of health unfortunately mean that access to health care for Canadians living in rural and remote areas is often not the same as for those living in urban areas. We speak with Dr. Katharine Smart, a pediatrician who practises in Yukon and president of the Canadian Medical Association, to learn more about the challenges and opportunities associated with providing and receiving health care in rural and remote Canada. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

The federal government’s recent speech from the throne included a key passage outlining the need for a better national health data strategy. We chat with Janet Davidson, administrator of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, and David O’Toole, CIHI’s president and CEO, about the importance of high-quality health data and how system enhancements could improve outcomes for people in Canada. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Canada typically spends billions of dollars a year on its health care systems, and for the first time, that number soared to over $300 billion in 2020 — spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Helen Angus, Ontario’s deputy minister of health when the pandemic arrived in Canada, and Kim McGrail, a renowned health policy professor at UBC, join us on the CHIP to discuss the effects the pandemic has had on health care costs across the country. They also share their perspectives on what system planners should consider moving forward, and what Canadians should expect from these systems that are such a source of national pride. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Since the start of the pandemic, many Canadians have turned to online resources to stay informed. The crisis has been accompanied by an overabundance of information, and not all of it true, which has made it very difficult for people to find facts and reliable sources. We speak with André Picard, award-winning author and journalist, and health columnist at The Globe and Mail, about what it’s like to report during the pandemic, how social media has changed his work and the long-term effects he hopes COVID-19 will have on Canada’s health systems. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

People in Canada observed the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this autumn, after a heartbreaking summer that saw the recovery of thousands of remains from unmarked graves on the grounds of former Residential Schools across the country. We speak to Dr. Evan Adams, a Coast Salish from Tla’amin First Nation near Powell River, B.C., who is a renowned physician and public health expert, about the legacy of the Residential School system, its long-term impact on Indigenous health and the state of medical care for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people in Canada. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

Since the first COVID-19 case in Canada was reported on January 25, 2020, Canadians’ lives have been affected on many fronts. There are still many unknowns factoring into what the future may look like, so we’ve brought in an expert to help Canadians understand some of what may lie on the other side of the pandemic: the chair of CIHI’s board of directors, Dr. Vivek Goel. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.