Category Archives: Alberta Health Care

“You’re fired!” Health Minister Horne Sacks the AHS Board

Posted on June 16, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

Last week Health Minister Horne out-trumped Donald Trump by firing not one but all 10 members of the Alberta Health Services Board—the board his government created in 2008 to deliver healthcare under a centralized delivery model. One expects such theatrics … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , | 41 Comments

Time to get Militant with your Doctor and the College of Physicians and Surgeons

Posted on June 9, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

Ms Soapbox has been in a quandary all week.  She was troubled by what she’d observed at the meeting of the College of Physicians and Surgeons governing council.  Finally the penny dropped.  The College is deadlocked and incapable of living … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Protect the Rights of the Rich? The College of Physicians and Surgeons Grapples with Concierge Clinics

Posted on June 2, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said to Ernest Hemingway, “You know, the rich are different from you and me.”  Hemingway replied, “Yes.  They’ve got more money”.* I was sitting in a meeting of the Council of the College of Physicians and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

A Trip to the Mayo Clinic: Your dime or mine?

Posted on April 20, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

This past January Mr Soapbox and my youngest daughter (let’s call her Mini) went on a pilgrimage to the Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  Unbeknownst to them they were following in the footsteps of Ms Michele Lahey, former Chief Operating … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Alberta Health Services Executive Bonuses: The joy of friends in high places

Posted on March 31, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

To paraphrase Ogden Nash (actually Mr Nash did not utter this famous phrase, but for some reason we all think he did), “Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where my bonus is?” It is indeed bonus time.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

And Now…A Message from your Premier-In-Waiting: Mr Lukaszuk

Posted on February 24, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

We interrupt our regular programming—the PC spin on the cause of the $4 billion budget shortfall—to bring you an important public service announcement from the Premier-In-Waiting, Mr Lukaszuk. Mr Lukaszuk steps up to the microphone and says:    Listen up you … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Economics, Education, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The “Tone at the Top” from two perspectives: Richard Nixon and the AHS

Posted on February 17, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

When Richard Nixon told David Frost than an illegal activity is not illegal “when the president does it” he confirmed what we’d all suspected: the “tone at the top” as far as the 37th President of the United States was … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Who do you trust? Premier Redford or Alberta’s Doctors?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

“How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders?  The man can’t even trust his own pants.”—a line from the spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West. If the government’s attacks on Alberta’s doctors … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Politics and Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Drs Love and Boswell, I Presume?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

When Mr Stanley tracked down Dr Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika he greeted the doctor with the now famous phrase “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”  Dr Livingstone replied “Yes, I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you”.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care, Politics and Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

When “The Duchess” says jump, you jump! Sheila Weatherill testifies at the Queue Jumping Inquiry

Posted on January 13, 2013 by susanonthesoapbox

Has the public inquiry into preferential access (queue jumping) into healthcare been a colossal waste of time?  Not on your life! The inquiry created a window, rather like that in the cannulated cow, into the byzantine and sometimes Machiavellian antics … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta Health Care | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments