White Coat, Black Art

Newfoundland and Labrador leaders are ramping up virtual care for the thousands of residents without a family doctor. They’ve turned to private company Teladoc Health Canada to not only have doctors see patients virtually but also fill in on remote and rural ERs, for the next two years. But medical associations say it comes at the expense of recruiting and retaining healthcare workers long-term, and patients aren’t getting the care they need.

A restaurant in Muskoka, Ontario is doing its best to respond if necessary, after the slate of poisonings with a more dangerous form of fentanyl in Belleville. A manager and employee have taken training to accompany their new naloxone kit. But the deputy chief paramedic says the best hope to save people may be to teach bystanders to do CPR and rescue breathing and not flee the scene.

A unique medical team in the UK is able to treat hospitalized patients in their own homes. The team can make a diagnosis in the field, so they can offer treatment on the spot. The result? They're providing the same volume and complexity of care as a 20-bed ward, active 24/7. And it’s cheaper.

As a rapper, Bishop Brigante is no stranger to on-stage battles. Now, the 45-year-old is battling Stage 4 colon cancer, which he says was caught too late. Bishop wants Canadians to have easier access to colonoscopies and says advocacy has given him newfound purpose.

The burden of loneliness on seniors is real and well-documented. That’s why med students at McMaster University in Ontario are visiting a seniors’ home one Saturday a month… not with clipboards, but with emery boards. With manicures comes conversation – helping seniors feel less isolated, and helping med students “polish up” on their soft skills.

Receiving a cancer diagnosis and trying to weave through the health-care system can be confusing and frustrating. That’s where cancer patient navigators come in. They’re the person who takes your calls and listens when it seems like no one else will, and they’re the nurse who wants the best for their patients. They're not available to everyone in Canada — but both navigators and their patients think they should be.

Manitoba nurse Jennifer Noone was assaulted outside her hospital’s staff entrance, leaving her with a concussion and PTSD. She took the unusual step of having her assailant charged with assault. Now, she’s advocating for better protection against violence in hospitals, which nurses' unions say is on the rise.

Dr. Kate Greenaway is devoted to providing gender-affirming care to the trans and nonbinary folks who desperately need it. But with ever-increasing wait times and a lack of funding, she’s done something she never thought she’d do: go private. And as this care falls increasingly under threat in Canada, Kit Sparrow explains how Dr. Greenaway’s clinic saved his life – even though he feels he should have never had to pay for it.

People with complex medical needs are welcome at Centretown Community Health Centre in Ottawa, one of about 120 CHCs across Canada. Teamwork by nurses, dietitians and others frees up family physicians to focus on patients, not paperwork.

When Kalpit Sharma started smoking high-THC weed several times a day, he thought he was just “living his life” as a university student. But then, he started hearing voices. Researcher Dr. Daniel Myran shares the science behind stories like Kalpit’s – and why young men are particularly at risk for concerning mental health outcomes.

Women are advocating for regular breast cancer screening to begin at age 40, pushing back against the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care guidelines that recommend starting at age 50. They’re fighting for their voices to be heard, as the taskforce reviews its guidelines.

Patients don't like waiting in a clinic or ER to get them, doctors hate writing them, and yet, some employers continue to demand sick notes for a minor illness like the flu or a cold. Now, some doctors and other health-care providers are pushing back. They say sick notes tie up an already overloaded system, arguing that more paid sick days are needed instead.

Twenty years after her daughter died, Winnipegger Elaine Stevenson is still fighting to get people better and faster treatment for eating disorders. Roughly a million Canadians have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, and as many as 15 percent will die because of it. Despite that, wait lists for treatment in Canada can be over a year, and it's not offered in every province.

When Mary Jarratt's brother, Billy, had a debilitating stroke at 58, she was thrown into the role of Power of Attorney. She had to make tough decisions about his care, the care of his teenaged son and whether to sell the family home. She wants people to know what they’re getting into when they sign up to be a POA.

Tara de Pratto donated part of her liver to a stranger, saving her life. The recipient was Farah Ali, and she and her family will never forget that act of kindness. In this second episode on living donors, we hear how Tara responded to a unique callout for a donor on social media, thanks to one woman’s passion for connecting donors with people in need. And how it led to a powerful bond between people whose paths might never have otherwise crossed.

Sherbrooke Community Centre’s intergenerational program, iGen, is unique in Canada. The long-term-care home in Saskatoon doubles as a Grade Six classroom and is helping both kids and seniors.

In this season of bearing gifts, it’s been said the highest form of giving is the anonymous kind. Heather Badenoch knows that very well. She donated part of her liver to a child she never met in Toronto. Now she uses her communications skills to recruit donors for people in need of an organ. In two weeks, we’ll have the story of one of the families she has helped.

B.C. family physician Dr. Stuart Bax co-founded the virtual cancer screening service CanScreenBC.com to get people checked as early as possible so they don't end up getting a cancer diagnosis too late.

The Alberta government is about to change health care like never before. It’s taking what’s been administered exclusively by Alberta Health Services and breaking it up into four independent parts: acute care, primary care, continuing care and mental health and addiction. Doctors and nurses, patients and experts are worried what this new healthcare system could look like for patient care. One health economist calls it a "train wreck."

You wouldn’t expect to find an overdose response and prevention team at a library. But Edmonton’s flagship library is going next level to take care of some of its most vulnerable citizens. They also have a team of social workers and other programs because their community needs are growing.