Friends of Medicare - Calgary Chapter

AMA President Dr. Paul Parks and Dr. Michelle Hart answer question from Susan Zelinski

"The residents of Airdrie care deeply about their public health care," said Gallaway. "For years, they lobbied hard to expand to 24 hour care at the Airdrie Urgent Care Centre. Since then, they’ve pushed to get the needed expansion approved and moving forward. Now the project is on pause and they’re being told to wait while the government explores private partners, rather than focus on delivering the public health care residents need. It’s unacceptable.”- Chris Gallaway, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare

"Every Albertan deserves to feel safe and free of discrimination when accessing health care, and the care they receive should come on the basis of the best medical evidence, not politics and ideology,” says Friends of Medicare's executive director, Chris Gallaway

Read FOM's response to the Premier's dangerous and discriminatory new barriers to gender-affirming health care: https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/barriers_to_gender_affirming_care

Alberta's home care system isn't cutting it 🏠

Without increased funding, disabled Albertans and seniors who depend on home care are continually denied the right to live independently, are required to rely on the unpaid labour of loved ones, and must pay out of pocket for the care they need. We deserve better!

Add your voice: Tell Alberta's government to prioritize home care funding in the 2024 provincial budget! www.friendsofmedicare.org/fundhomecare

Some good news in time for the holidays! 🦷

“The interim Canada Dental Benefit was life-changing news for Alberta children. It meant that over 33,000 Albertan kids were able to see a dentist, many for the first time,” said FOM's executive director, Chris Gallaway. “The life-long health impacts of preventative dental care for these kids cannot be overestimated. Expanding the coverage to include hundreds of thousands more Albertans is fantastic news for public health care. The demand for, and success of, these programs is proof that all dental care should ultimately be covered as part of our universal Medicare system.”

Read FOM's full response: www.friendsofmedicare.org/expanded_federal_dental_coverage_great_news_for_albertans

📢 Let's keep up the pressure! Add your voice to the call for universal, public drug plan for all: www.friendsofmedicare.org/abpharmacare

2024 will be a year that we need to fight harder than ever to protect and strengthen our public health care system. Are you with us?

Get your 2024 Friends of Medicare membership or make a year-end donation here: https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/donate

“This kind of mixed messaging only makes it more difficult to retain the nurses already working in dangerously understaffed workplaces and makes it even harder to recruit new nurses to work in Alberta,” said UNA President Heather Smith. “This is the opposite kind of signal that AHS should be sending to nurses and health care workers right now.”

AHS threat to reduce nursing positions won’t help retain and recruit nurses in Alberta For immediate release: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 United Nurses of Alberta is deeply concerned about the job security of frontline nurses after receiving a letter from Alberta Health Services warning the union about potential “reductions of positions” in 2024. A letter sent to UNA Directo...

Did you watch the Alberta government announce their plan to aggressively "restructure" our public health care system this morning? Did all the political buzzwords and double speak make you go 🤔?

We've got you: www.friendsofmedicare.org/health_care_privatizer_decoder

“Blow it up and sell pieces off, that seems to be the strategy underway with this morning's announcement,” said FOM's executive director, Chris Gallaway. “You think this government would have learned their lesson after their disastrous decision to split our lab system into two pieces and their subsequent failed privatization of the community labs to Dynalife, but here we go again.”

Read FOM's response to the UCP's plan to overhaul our public health care system:
www.friendsofmedicare.org/albertans_should_be_very_worried_about_todays_drastic_health_care_announcement

Our Chapter is up and running! Get your 2024 membership or get involved in the chapter’s work to defend and improve Calgary’s public health care

Our AGM is TODAY!

Join us for an important community conversation about the issues impacting public health care in Calgary & surrounding communities & help support your local FOM Chapter’s work to protect & strengthen our public health care✊

Our chapter's Annual General Meeting is fast approaching!

Friends of Medicare will be in Calgary on Thursday, September 21 for our AGM and an important community conversation at the Calgary and District Labour Council!

Now's your chance to get involved in protecting & strengthening public health care in Calgary! Details & RSVP: https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/calgary_agm_2023

Our chapter's Annual General Meeting is fast approaching!

Friends of Medicare will be in Calgary on Thursday, September 21 for our AGM and an important community conversation at the Calgary and District Labour Council!

Now's your chance to get involved in protecting & strengthening public health care in Calgary! Details & RSVP: https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/calgary_agm_2023

'We can make other arrangements': Premier addresses DynaLife complaints on weekend call-in radio show Premiere Danielle Smith says she will push Alberta Health Services to reduce wait times at laboratories across the province.

Join Friends of Medicare for their virtual AGM on June 10! www.friendsofmedicare.org/agm2023

Friends of Medicare's Annual General Meeting is June 10!

Whichever party wins the Alberta election, our AGM this year will be an important opportunity for us to gather and discuss what comes next for our public health care system. Join us!

RSVP and more info: https://www.friendsofmedicare.org/agm2023

Screening this Thursday at cSPACE! 👇

Calgary friends: This documentary investigates the erosion of Alberta's public health care system through privatization and attacks on health care workers—and it's screening this Thursday!

Don't miss it! RSVP and more info at: https://allevents.in/calgary/hippocrates-documentary-screening/10000621124057777

An update from our Executive Director An update from Friends of Medicare's Executive Director: 2022 Year-End Review

TONIGHT: Join us for the first stop of the Better Way Alberta tour in Calgary, and help us reimagine a Better Way for Alberta's public health care, public services, and workers' rights!
https://betterwayalberta.ca/tour-calgary/

We know there's a Better Way for Alberta's future, so FOM has teamed up with Public Interest Alberta, Parkland Institute, and Alberta Federation of Labour to reimagine just that!

We're holding townhalls in cities across the province, including in Calgary on October 24. Join us there to help build a Better Way!

Details and RSVP at the link

Join us for the Better Way Tour! Together, we can reimagine Alberta’s economy and build a better future for workers in our province. Life is getting more expensive. Workers across the province have been let down by soaring inflation…