Friends of Medicare
601 - 12323 Stony Plain Road T5N 3Y5 Edmonton, AB, Canada

Important event this Thursday from Parkland Institute, discussing the chronic understaffing in Alberta’s long-term care centres, and its impact on the seniors in their care. Don't miss it! #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB #SeniorsDeserveBetter

New private contract for Alberta's health care laundry services reveals more cronyism from the UCP: https://kimsiever.ca//ahs-awards-private-laundry-contract/ #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #HandsOffOurHealthCare

"Workers at homes run by AgeCare, a #Calgary-based for-profit company, say the premier’s talk is cheap. These facilities, they add, are continually understaffed while employees are expected to work under tight, demanding schedulesconditions that have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic." https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/inside-agecare-bill-70 #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB #Bill70

Important read about the closure of the Boyle Street supervised consumption site, and the devastating loss to both individuals and the community, from the former site manager: "This is not only a loss of another entry point to a life-saving service, but a loss of a connecting point to health & social services, mental health supports, access to housing & basic needs..." #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #Yes2SCS

This is totally preventable. This system that we have for the pretense to provide care was a system that was created over decades. What this pandemic did was shone a light on the issues we have been calling (out) for decades now. The whole entire system needs to be taken to task. https://lethbridgeherald.com//critics-concerned-bill-70-r/ #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB #Bill70 #SeniorsDeserveBetter

An Alberta paramedic has sent this open letter to Health Minister Tyler Shandro, about the province's COVID-19 vaccination schedule and the decision to not include paramedics in the initial rollout. Paramedics have been working on the front line throughout the pandemic, and in and out of hospitals, as well as the homes of people with COVID-19, but despite their risk, they have received no explanation as to why they have been overlooked in the first phase of vaccinations. The letter below is well worth the read. #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB

The outbreak at this seniors' home has exploded out of control, but it's not alone. We're going to continue to see COVID-19 threaten seniors in care until we finally address the actual root of the problems in our continuing care system, and make meaningful changes to the ways that we fund and staff residential care facilities, as Friends of Medicare and other advocates have been calling for for decades. https://www.cbc.ca//kiwanis-place-outbreak-covid-19-1.5864 #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB

New article "scrutinizing the methodological weaknesses and aberrant results" of the report that this government is using to politically undermine harm reduction and justify defunding Supervised Consumption Services in Alberta The government's SCS report and the panel appointed to write it were flawed from the start. Nearly a year after it's release, accessibility for addiction and mental health care supports have been worsened, and there is an exacerbated risk and harm of ...overdose in this province. Shameful. https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com//s12954-020 #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #Yes2SCS

#FortMac MLA Tany Yao says he was unreachable on his Mexico vacation due to the stress of getting #Bill204 passed. His one-page bill repeals protections that prohibited for-profit blood brokers to pay Albertans for their blood and plasma. http://www.friendsofmedicare.org/bill_204_fact_check But despite claims of "abuse and slander" from Albertans and the media, it was Yao who stood in the Alberta Legislature and made the bizarre claim that Friends of Medicare and critics su...pport organ harvesting! https://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com//yao-accuses-ndp-plasma- ...So was it the stress of corporatizing Alberta's blood system, or the stress of attacking health care organizations that he felt warranted a tropical vacation in the middle of a pandemic, we wonder? https://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com//yao-apologizes-for-mexi #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB

Alberta's health care workers speak out on MLAs' holiday travel: I am completely disgusted by (the MLAs’) thoughtless behaviour. My patients & coworkers are terrified. Nursing jobs are being eliminated, & they are relaxing on a beach. https://pressprogress.ca/my-uncle-was-dying-alberta-health/ #ABhealth #ABpoli #ABleg #COVID19AB