AntibioticDoc's Information Page

02/05/2026

TL;DR: Alberta would need 11 hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary to be resourced to the Canadian average.
1/6 🏥 Why is Alberta’s healthcare system under such strain? It’s not "management"—it’s a numbers problem 40 years in the making. Let’s look at the data. 🧵
2/6 If you want ALL the gory details I have them written down here, btw - work in progress: https://medium.com/AntibioticDoc's Information Page/a-voice-from-the-trenches-of-acute-care-in-alberta-part-1-42527fff5c1e).

Basically, decades-long policy of "efficiency" has left no surge capacity: our system works brilliantly on a Tuesday in May, but breaks every December.
3/6 📉 The Bed Gap: In 1980, Canada had 6.75 beds per 1,000 people. Today, Alberta’s big cities are down to ~1.4. That’s the same ratio as India or Syria. Meanwhile, Germany sits at 7.8. We are forced to run "lean" to the point of breaking.
4/6 🛑 The "Exit" Block: Between 20% and 37% of our hospital beds are filled with patients waiting for long-term care (ALC). When the "exit" is blocked, the Emergency Room becomes a parking lot. "Hallway medicine" is terrible for patients and heartbreaking for healthcare workers.
5/6 🏆 The Paradox: Despite this, Albertans have better cancer survival rates than the UK or Germany. My colleagues are putting it all out, all the time for our patients, with ZERO surge capacity. We have 102-120% occupancy daily. The goal for function and cost savings is 85%.
6/6 Problem: Deliberate downsizing ("efficiency") since the 1980s. Now Canada runs the lowest "curative" beds in the G7, and Calgary and Edmonton (1.4 beds/1000) sit near India and Bolivia- we could manage it because of good primary care, but we're underresourcing that too.

6/6 ✅ The Fix:
1️⃣ Acknowledge we need to catch up, then match population growth
2️⃣ Long-Term Care patients need LTC beds
3️⃣ Recognize the real costs of running at >100%
HCW burning out to prevent terribly substandard care is not a long-term plan.

Bonus Math: Canada- avg 2.5 beds/1000, OECD/international avg 3.5/1000, Edm/Calgary 1.5 beds/1000: 3800 beds to get to Can avg, 7,295 to OECD average, optimal community hospital size is 300-400 beds.
Each hospital: 2500-3200 people: nurses, doctors, plus other HCW/staff.
Bonus Comment: Don't get hung up on math. Big picture example: government has not built a hospital in Edmonton since 1988, our population has more than doubled, and we are a referral centre. This has been predictable, predicted, and not dealt with for a looooong time.

11/24/2025

This should be interesting! An example of outside-the-box community outreach: I've never been in a panel that chatted through and debated vaccine controversies over a beer before!

This Friday - still some tickets available.

11/15/2025

Edmontonians, visitors, U of A peeps- drop by Univ of AB Hospital Snell Hall for the Department of Medicine Community Health Fair anytime from 10:30 till 2:30 (the last session starts at 2) - with lunch provided as long as it lasts- you’ll be fed, entertained and educated!

10/22/2025

On why you should get your flu vaccine. I’ll do a thread elsewhere later, my submitted text is below (not sure how much they edited it without comparing). Op ed on the journal today, text of my submitted draft below.

▶️We may feel done with viruses, but they aren’t done with us.

As an Infectious Diseases specialist, I understand the frustration and fatigue. For many, the past years have felt like crisis after crisis, and thinking about another virus season and another vaccination may feel exhausting. Layer in the increasing fog of vaccine misinformation and our hyper-polarized public sphere, and it is pretty easy to see why the annual influenza shot may not top everyone’s priority list.

But I’m a hospital-based clinician who witnesses the potentially devastating effects of influenza every winter. I must emphasize that your flu shot is more crucial than you might realize, and I also acknowledge that our previous way of communicating about it may have missed the mark.

▶️You can still get the flu after the flu shot – but it can mean the difference between a miserable week at home and a life-threatening hospital stay.

In the past, you might have seen oversimplified “get immunized, prevent influenza” style messaging. But vaccine effectiveness in preventing infection varies year-to-year depending on how well the chosen vaccine strains match the circulating viruses. When people still get the flu, they can feel misled.

The truth is, while the vaccine generally can cut your risk of contracting influenza in half, its most powerful benefit lies in helping to prevent severe outcomes.

If you do get the flu after vaccination, you are approximately 50 to 70% less likely to require a hospital stay. Your risk of the whole spectrum of possible complications—including pneumonia, severe sinusitis, and extended illness—is dramatically lower.

But it’s more than that. The flu shot is a shield for your entire body, not just your respiratory system.

▶️A Heart-Health Strategy Disguised as a Flu Shot

People may not realize the flu can trigger heart attacks. The inflammation from infection can destabilize fatty deposits in your arteries, leading to dangerous blockages. Studies show the flu shot can cut your risk of a heart attack by 15 to 45%, especially if you’re over 65 or have existing heart disease. If you have blood pressure or cholesterol concerns, the flu shot should be discussed as part of your prevention plan.

▶️ A Community Duty: Protecting the Most Vulnerable

Protecting your health is important, but the flu shot is also an act of community solidarity. Annual influenza epidemics vary in severity, and some, like last year’s flu season, are devastating. Higher vaccination rates can reduce overall circulation of the virus, which can decrease the severity of the season for everyone. This is a crucial lifeline for people who may not have a strong protective response to the vaccine themselves: infants, the elderly, those in care homes, and those with compromised immune systems. Your decision to get vaccinated helps protect them.

▶️A Glimpse Behind Hospital Doors

When flu season hits hard, it’s not just flu patients who suffer. Beds fill up, ER wait times stretch, and care for everything from strokes to complicated births can be strained. Every flu admission we prevent keeps the system flexible for all the other health care that can’t wait. Reducing influenza-related admissions safeguards the entire healthcare system, so that we can be there for you.

▶️The Simplest Reason

If you are in the 10% or so who get influenza in a typical year, you know it is not just a cold. It can be brutal: severe headache, high fever, intense muscle aches, and a deep, rattling cough. Even if you are far from needing hospitalization, it may not be “mild”- and many find it worse than COVID. Even a 50% risk reduction is an attractive proposition. Life is complicated enough without adding bring sidelines and feeling terrible for a week.

▶️The message is clear.

Annual influenza vaccines have a long track record of safety. They have no active virus and can’t give you the flu. Vaccination is your best tool to reduce your risk of severe illness complications, including life-threatening cardiac events, and to protect both the fragile capacity of our healthcare system and the most vulnerable people in our community.

This winter, a small choice can help protect your health, heart, community, and hospital. Get your flu shot – you are worth it.

To get your influenza shot, speak to your local pharmacist or call 811 in Alberta for information on public health clinics.

Note: This piece focuses on influenza vaccines, but the same principles apply to COVID-19 vaccination. For all respiratory viruses, measures such as staying home when sick, wearing a mask in high-risk situations, and washing your hands are recommended. Finally, if you’re at high medical risk and get sick, seek care early – antiviral treatments for both influenza and COVID may be useful in some cases.

10/05/2025

Personal reflection: when it feels like there’s a LOT of concerning things going on, it was therapeutic to join a vast crowd of Albertans at the Legislature (so many kids!) to support our teachers and public education.
1/4
Civilized and organized, citizens of all ages showed up to show we believe teachers and students deserve reasonable teaching and learning conditions.
2/4
It really felt like everyone was willing to keep showing up for as long as it takes. Hopefully once our democratically elected government gets the ample feedback that is rolling in it won’t be long…

3/4
By the way - labour negotiations have nothing to do with whether legislature is in or not.
So discussions COULD start tomorrow if the premier allowed them to.
4/4

09/07/2025

Honestly if in years past you told me that in 2025 we’d be getting measles exposures notifications on the regular I’d not have believed you. U of A notification.

08/24/2025

1.
In case you are in Alberta and missed the details, COVID fall vaccination eligibility in Alberta is restricted vs other provinces. One key difference is not covering based on age >65. Congregate care, medical and immunologic eligibility criteria. Medical:
1/6
2. Access with be more complex- not in pharmacies. Pre sign up period ends before they are available I think?
(If in doubt about coverage conditions and affotdability I’d sign up anyway. )
https://bookvaccine.alberta.ca/vaccine/s/preorder

Immunologic conditions for eligibility include:
2/6
3. COVID can be severe directly AND, like influenza, is associated with higher rates of major cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke) in younger people too. Vaccines make a big difference in reducing risk of illness, death and community impact.
https://share.google/pvqLKjfyljMvNBVRy
3/6
4. Millions of lives saved by vaccines…but a time of great societal stress also amplified outrageous disinformation from grifters and conspiracists, in spite of excellent safety data (there is no doubt vaccine is better than COVID infection.) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9359307/
4/6
5. All to say people should remember vaccination updates and prioritize their health this fall.
Life is busy and stressful enough without getting sick, caring for sick family members, rampant illness and abseentism at work/school, and wayyy overfull hospitals.
5/6
(Sigh. To those who believe I am evil for promoting vaccination - I’m sorry you’ve been sucked into that unfortunate worldview, but I am sharing a personal + professional, science based interpretation and am being civil about it.
Abuse and threats say more about you than me.
6/6

07/20/2025

I imagine many know this already but holy heck, what a massive Microsoft SharePoint security breach - with no patch yet.
Just in case- an FYI.
Check w/ your IT folk if it affects you.

06/20/2025

06/19/2025

06/19/2025

06/19/2025

Yeah, raw milk remains bad for you. Clear risk and no proven benefit. (Imaging licking a cows udder- and all of the manure win the environment. Those are the bacteria you are getting exposed to.)
https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/illness-and-disease-z/foodborne-illness/outbreaks/2025-shiga-toxin-producing-e-coli-stec-infection-outbreak-linked-raw-milk-consumption #:~:text=coli%20(STEC)%20Infection%20Outbreak%20Linked%20to%20Raw%20Milk%20Consumption,-Last%20Updated:%20May&text=Between%20May%202nd%20and%20May,cooperating%20with%20the%20illness%20investigation.&text=The%20Washington%20State%20Department%20of,and/or%20causes%20illness%20outbreaks.