Alberta
E-coli shows up at more daycares in Calgary – Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health
Statement from Chief Medical Officer of Health
Dr. Mark Joffe, Chief Medical Officer of Health, issued the following statement on the E. Coli situation in Calgary:
“It has come to my attention that five additional daycare sites have had children attend who have tested positive for E. Coli. Some of these children are connected to daycares from the original outbreak. These additional facilities will be closed, out of an abundance of caution. Facilities will be required to be cleaned and sanitized and all children will be tested to confirm their negative status before returning to the centre. All facility operators have been contacted, and parents of these facilities will be directly notified as soon as possible by the operators working with Alberta Health Services.
“The six additional sites are:
- Active Start Country Hills
- CanCare Childcare – Scenic Acres location
- CEFA Early Learning Childcare North
- MTC Daycare
- Renert Junior Kindergarten
- Calgary JCC Child Care
“Additionally, Vik Academy is again closed for precaution pending testing results. This facility was part of the original closures.
“To all the parents involved in this terrible situation – we hear you and understand what you are going through. However, it is crucial for parents who have children who attend these daycares follow the guidance being given to them by health care professionals. If your daycare is closed, please respect why this is done and keep your children at home. Only send your child to another facility if they have tested negative for E. Coli and have no symptoms.
“To all daycare operators in the Calgary region – please confirm the health and daycare history of children who are new to your facility.
“By working together and following health guidance, we will stop this outbreak.
“Parents and staff from all impacted daycares involved are being provided with information about what to do if they or their children experience symptoms, test positive, or have concerns about the health and safety of their child. If your child is experiencing more severe symptoms, such as bloody diarrhea, they should be taken to an emergency department immediately.
“E. Coli is a highly transmissible bacteria that can be spread by food or water sources, or by hand to mouth contact. Some secondary transmission is common and expected in significant outbreaks such as this.”
The original 11 sites that were closed are:
- Fueling Brains Braeside
- Fueling Brains West 85th
- Fueling Brains New Brighton
- Fueling Brains Centennial
- Fueling Brains McKnight
- Kidz Space
- Vik Academy in Okotoks
- Fueling Brains Bridgeland
- Little Oak Early Education (formerly Mangrove)
- Almond Branch School
- Braineer Academy
Alberta
Fortis et Liber: Alberta’s Future in the Canadian Federation
From the C2C Journal
By Barry Cooper, professor of political science, University of Calgary
Canada’s western lands, wrote one prominent academic, became provinces “in the Roman sense” – acquired possessions that, once vanquished, were there to be exploited. Laurentian Canada regarded the hinterlands as existing primarily to serve the interests of the heartland. And the current holders of office in Ottawa often behave as if the Constitution’s federal-provincial distribution of powers is at best advisory, if it needs to be acknowledged at all. Reviewing this history, Barry Cooper places Alberta’s widely criticized Sovereignty Act in the context of the Prairie provinces’ long struggle for due constitutional recognition and the political equality of their citizens. Canada is a federation, notes Cooper. Provinces do have rights. Constitutions do mean something. And when they are no longer working, they can be changed.
Alberta
Pharmacist-led clinics improve access to health care: Lessons from Alberta
News release from the Montreal Economic Institute
In Canada, 35 per cent of avoidable emergency room visits could be handled by pharmacists.
Emulating Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinic model could enhance access to primary care and help avoid unnecessary emergency room visits, according to a new study from the Montreal Economic Institute.
“Pharmacists know medication better than anyone else in our health systems,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, senior public policy analyst and Alberta project lead at the MEI. “By unlocking their full potential in prescribing and substituting medications, Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinics have helped avoid tens of thousands of unnecessary emergency room visits.”
Pharmacists in Alberta have the largest prescribing authority in the country, including the ability to prescribe schedule one drugs with special training.
Unlike in Ontario and Manitoba, Alberta pharmacists are authorized to substitute prescribed medications, which can help address issues such as adverse reactions caused by interaction with other treatments.
The study explains that this can help reduce pressure on hospitals, as prescription-related issues account for more than 10 per cent of emergency room visits.
Alberta’s first pharmacist-led clinic, in Lethbridge, sees between 14,600 and 21,900 patients per year since opening in 2022.
It is expected that there will be 103 such clinics active in the province by the end of 2024.
The researcher also links the success of the pharmacist-led clinic model in Alberta to pharmacists’ expanded scope of practice in the province.
Among other things, Alberta pharmacists are able to order and interpret lab tests, unlike their counterparts in British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that pharmacists could handle 35 per cent of avoidable emergency room visits in Canada.
“By enabling pharmacists to play a larger role in its health system, Alberta is redirecting minor cases from emergency rooms to more appropriate facilities,” said Wittevrongel. “Just imagine how much faster things could be if pharmacists could take care of 35 per cent of the unnecessary load placed on Canada’s emergency rooms.”
The MEI study is available here.
* * *
The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policy-makers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
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