Canada's health care crisis: Who's accountable, and how can we fix an overburdened system?
CTV
On CTVNews.ca and YouTube: Health journalist Avis Favaro joins our Trend Line podcast, for an in-depth episode dedicated to the growing crises facing the Canadian health-care system.
This winter, two Nova Scotia communities were left reeling after two women, Charlene Snow and Allison Holthoff, died following lengthy emergency room waits in hospitals on opposite sides of the province.
According to the latest weekly issue tracking by Nanos Research, more Canadians consider health care their biggest national concern now than at any point since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As concern mounts for the future of health care in Canada, CTV News Trend Line host Michael Stittle and pollster Nik Nanos sit down for an interview with health journalist and CTV News contributor Avis Favaro to get to the root of the crisis.
During the conversation, Favaro – Canada's longest-serving on-air medical correspondent – inventories the list of long-standing issues plaguing the universal health-care system Canadians rely on, from inconsistent delivery and funding cuts, to surgical delays, hallways lined with beds and under-staffed long-term care centres.
They get to the root causes of these issues and how the COVID-19 pandemic pushed an already weakened system to its limits.
Here is the episode and a full transcript of the interview. The text has been edited for clarity.
Michael: This winter in Nova Scotia, two women, Charlene Snow and Allison Holthoff, died after lengthy emergency room waits. In this episode of Trend Line, Nik and I want to do a deep dive on one issue, health care. And to do that, we're joined by health reporter and CTV News contributor Avis Favaro. Welcome, Avis.