Canadian Health Information Podcast
Episodes
Rehabbing Primary Care: One Solution to the Doctor Shortage
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
According to CIHI’s new report on the state of Canada’s health workforce, 5.7 million Canadians don't have a primary care provider. In this episod...
The Need for Speed: How a 911 Project Is Filling a Data Gap to Improve Emergency Care
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you call 911, police, fire or paramedics respond. But did you know they have no access to any medical information before they arrive? They’ll o...
The Long Road Ahead: Mental Health and Substance Use Care
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New data shows that 2 in 5 Canadians say they aren’t getting any or enough mental health care to improve their lives. Host Avis Favaro talks about a...
Canada First: Fixing Our Medical Supply Chain
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Canada First” is a phrase politicians have been using a lot lately. But it’s been focused primarily on steel, aluminum and other consumer produ...
Deadly Impact: The Rise of E-Scooter Injuries
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chet Walker wants to warn Canadians about how dangerous e-scooters can be. His son Austin was killed after a driver hit him while he was riding hom...
Can AI Help Identify Babies at Risk of Autism?
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What can we learn about the mysteries of autism by combining artificial intelligence and Canada's valuable health data? That is the question posed by ...
Lost in Translation
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine being just 8 years old and having to translate your parents’ medical information into a language they understand. That’s the story of Kaya...
Why Don’t Canadians Care About Public Health?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He’s a doctor and scientist who’s helped steer Canada’s public health systems through new diseases like COVID-19 and through a revolution of dat...
Transforming Health Data: A New Era for CIHI
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What are the challenges of leading a national health data organization like CIHI? CIHI’s new CEO, Dr. Anderson Chuck, talks about transformation i...
Going the Distance
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How far do you have to travel for health care? Down the street? To a hospital in another town? How about to an entirely different province? A new CIHI...
Dr. Manners: Operating Room Etiquette
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Behind operating room doors, medical teams work under extreme pressure to save lives. And all that pressure can make for a toxic work environment. Res...
The Hidden Killer: How a Canadian Teen Lost Her Limbs and Gained a Mission
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s called the hidden killer. That’s because there’s little public awareness about sepsis and not a lot of data on how many people it really af...
Nowhere Else to Go: Why Canadians Are Ending Up in Emergency Departments
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, there are over 15 million visits to emergency departments across Canada. But new CIHI data shows that 15% of these — that’s 1 in 7 — ...
The Long Goodbye: Dementia After Diagnosis
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“You have dementia” are 3 words no one wants to hear. For the three-quarters of a million Canadians living with the disease and the 1.7 million pr...
Saving Life and Limb: Preventing Amputations From Diabetes
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
40 amputations a day are performed at hospitals across Canada. And the single biggest culprit is diabetes. Host Avis Favaro meets with • Harish Ran...
David O’Toole — Lessons and Directions From a Decade at CIHI
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this special edition of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro sits down with David O’Toole as he contemplates the biggest challenges and successes of his 10...
Fixing Family Medicine — Dr. Jane Philpott and Dr. Tara Kiran
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With an exodus of family doctors — due to burnout caused by heavy workloads, difficulties getting patient referrals and financial stress — 1 in 5 ...
Patients Experiencing Homelessness — Dr. Louis Francescutti and Dr. Andrew Bond
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to the latest CIHI data, almost all (93%) patients experiencing homelessness were admitted to hospital via the emergency department — a hi...
Emergency Departments in Crisis — Dr. Fraser Mackay and David Leary
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From staffing shortages and physician burnout to department closures and lengthy wait times, there is little question that Canada’s emergency depart...
Frailty in Canada — Dr. Kenneth Rockwood
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Canada’s population ages, it is expected that an increasing number of people will become frail. Individuals living with frailty have an increased...
Hospital Harm in Canada — Kate Parson, Linda Silas, Kathleen Finlay and Annette Elliott Rose
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hospital harm — medical conditions that patients experience in hospital that they did not have when they were admitted — is on the rise. A new CIH...
Climate Change and Health in Canada — Dr. Theresa Tam
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Clips from the following sources were used in this recording:CTV News (Drivers dodge flames and smoke from Nova Scotia wildfire | DRAMATIC VIDEO)CBC N...
Health Care Funding in Canada — Dr. Jennifer Zelmer, Teri Price and Annamarie Fuchs
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government reached a funding agreement recently with Canada’s provinces and territories that will add roughly $46.2 billion in new money...
Palliative Care in Canada — Dr. Naheed Dosani
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
More people in Canada are receiving palliative care near the end of their lives than ever — but a lot of work remains. A new CIHI analysis shows the...
Virtual Care in Canada — Dr. Ewan Affleck
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Virtual health care in Canada has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering Canadians unprecedented online access to medical professionals. Now, a...
Surgical Wait Times in Canada — Dr. David Urbach
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Canada’s health care systems were already facing numerous challenges with wait times for surgeries before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now those probl...
Black Representation in Canadian Health Care — Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed some clear gaps in Canada’s health care systems, including the need to better understand the roots of health inequalit...
Nurse Practitioners in Canada — Cindy Fehr and Stan Marchuk
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro speaks with nurse practitioners Cindy Fehr and Stan Marchuk about where their field fits in Canadian hea...
Low-value healthcare in Canada — Dr. Wendy Levinson and Dr. Janet Reynolds
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Overuse of medical procedures and tests is a serious concern that costs Canada’s health care systems a lot of time and money and can even be harmful...
Canada’s Health Workforce Crisis — Dr. Leigh Chapman and Dr. Doug Sinclair
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Canada is facing an unprecedented shortage of health care professionals. COVID-19 is partly to blame, with some doctors and nurses simply burned out b...
Child and Youth Mental Health in Canada - Liudmila Husak, Chris Daken and Dr. Chris Wilkes
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as Canadians knew it beginning in spring 2020, and among the hardest-hit groups were children and youth. On this we...
Health care in Canada on Hold - Dr. Michael Green, Dr. Christian Finley, Dr. Kishore Mulpuri and Laura Greer
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 pandemic forced health care systems across the country to rapidly shift priorities to help save lives, but the result has been a huge bac...
Introducing our new host
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season 3 of the Canadian Health Information Podcast is coming soon and here to introduce herself ia our new host, Avis Favaro. Episode transcripts can...
Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada — Dr. Joseph Kim and Sandra Holdsworth
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of the health care system in Canada, and one area where that impact is being felt the most is organ donation and tr...
Rural and Remote Health Care in Canada — Dr. Katharine Smart
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Canada’s universal health care system is a pillar of Canadian pride, but factors including geography and social determinants of health unfortunately...
The Importance of Quality Health Data — Janet Davidson and David O’Toole
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government’s recent speech from the throne included a key passage outlining the need for a better national health data strategy. We chat...
The Cost of Caring for Canada’s Health Systems — Helen Angus and Kim McGrail
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Canada typically spends billions of dollars a year on its health care systems, and for the first time, that number soared to over $300 billion in 2020...
Covering a Health Crisis — André Picard
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since the start of the pandemic, many Canadians have turned to online resources to stay informed. The crisis has been accompanied by an overabundance ...
The State of Indigenous Health Care in Canada — Dr. Evan Adams
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People in Canada observed the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this autumn, after a heartbreaking summer that saw the recovery of thous...
Life after COVID-19 – Dr. Vivek Goel
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since the first COVID-19 case in Canada was reported on January 25, 2020, Canadians’ lives have been affected on many fronts. There are still many u...
Beyond the self-harm data: Answering the crisis hotline – Hannah Storrs and Dr. Allison Crawford
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The global Covid-19 pandemic has been extremely taxing on many people’s mental health. In some cases, this has led to thoughts of self-harm and suic...
COVID-19’s Impact on Health Care Workers – Andrea Sikora and Dr. Kim Spencer
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frontline healthcare workers in Canada have been disproportionally impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic – with a high number of cases and deaths. Respi...
Becoming the Patient – Dr. Alex Mihailidis
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Alex Mihailidis, one of the top scientists at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, dedicated his life to developing technology to help people. Wh...
Opioids and COVID-19: A Crisis Within a Crisis — Josée Joliat and Dr. Mark Lysyshyn
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While COVID-19 has knocked the opioid crisis out of the headlines, the factors that led to it are still in play. Even worse, many have been amplified....
Impact of Covid-19 on Long-Term Care in Canada — Dr. Samir Sinha
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Long-term care homes account for the highest rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada. The pandemic has revealed deeply concerning issues with the...
Welcome
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Canadian Health Information Podcast (CHIP) offers in-depth conversations about Canada's health systems featuring people and data you can trust. We...