Athletic facility could provide space for at least 100 beds during COVID-19 pandemic if needed
The University of Alberta’s Butterdome has once again been seconded into Alberta’s fight against COVID-19. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, recently announced that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is working with the Red Cross to transform the venerable U of A track and field facility into an alternate care centre should the need…
Competition and entrepreneurship allow medicare to budget wisely and patients to get the attention they deserve
Once again, the U.S. presidential election elevated Canadian health care – colloquially known as medicare – as a role model. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed its many shortfalls and triggered a public debate over allowing private alternatives. A chief concern – though not the only one – among reform advocates is waiting times for…
A University of Alberta clinical trial will screen 1,500 people with point-of-care dual HIV and syphilis test kits in an effort to combat the syphilis outbreak in Edmonton and northern Alberta. Alberta Health Services declared the outbreak last year after 12 stillborn births and 1,753 newly diagnosed cases of syphilis, 68 per cent of them in the Edmonton area.…
Donated lungs viable for up to six times longer than storing them in ice before transplant
A University of Alberta-led trial has demonstrated the potential of the Ex-Vivo Organ Support System (EVOSS) device to increase life-saving opportunities for patients waiting for a lung transplant. The study, published in Nature Communications, confirmed the efficacy of the device in using negative pressure ventilation ex situ lung perfusion (NPV-ESLP) to assess and reclaim donor lungs that were…
U of A professor says COVID-19 crisis has provided much-needed public education in how vaccines can prevent deadly viruses
A pharmacy researcher predicts more of us will roll up our sleeves for the influenza vaccine this fall thanks to the crash course we’ve all had recently on viruses and how to prevent them. “Because of COVID-19, people are becoming a lot more aware of how susceptible they are to viruses and virus-caused infections, especially…
Alberta researchers identify gradients of risk for preterm births, small and large size at birth, smoking and drug use by mothers
The highest concentration of adverse birth outcomes and related maternal risk factors occur in rural areas of Alberta with the lowest socio-economic status, according to new research from the University of Alberta. “When it comes to perinatal health, postal code can be as important as your genetic code,” said perinatal epidemiologist Maria-Beatriz Ospina, assistant professor of obstetrics…
U of A designer, emergency room doctor work on award-winning projects that show how to stop the spread
As citizens cope with a barrage of public health information about how to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, University of Alberta researchers are working to make it more accessible and easier to understand. “All of your functions are impaired in an emergency,” said Gillian Harvey, an assistant professor of design studies and a member of the international…
Ophthalmologists encouraged to take extra precautions while working with patients who have conjunctivitis
A case of pink eye is now reason to be tested for COVID-19, according to University of Alberta researchers. Coughing, fever and difficulty breathing are common symptoms of the illness, but a recent case study involving an Edmonton woman and published in the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology has determined that conjunctivitis and keratoconjunctivitis can also be primary symptoms. In…
Welfare reform in the 1990s provides a starting point for reforming health care today
By Jake Fuss and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute On Wednesday, Alberta’s Fair Deal Panel issued its report detailing 25 policy recommendations to expand the province’s influence within the Canadian federation and enhance provincial autonomy. However, one crucial policy option was not discussed at length – the potential shift of health-care decision-making powers to the…
The industry will now be popping champagne: no Alberta nicotine cap, no flavour ban
The government of Alberta finally proposed legislation regulating vaping last week. But its Bill 19 is quite simply a cop-out. In the name of protecting children and youth, the bill mainly protects industry, and not children and youth. Alberta is the last Canadian province to regulate vaping and now makes minimal proposals: restricting advertising and…
The University of Alberta’s Butterdome has once again been seconded into Alberta’s fight against COVID-19. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, recently announced that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is working with the Red Cross to transform the venerable U of A track and field facility into an alternate care centre should the need…
