Elysa Bathe

Oncology RN, mother of 3 crazy awesome boys, champion of health literacy and patient education. Views expressed are my own.

[Dr. Raj Sherman @RajSherman]

Alberta, we're "FUCKED" this fall season and Canada's public healthcare system is in serious trouble!!

The good news is that once patients get into the system, the care provided by our doctors, nurses and healthcare teams is among the best in the world, and nobody needs a Visa or Mastercard at the bedside.

The problem is getting timely access to that care.

Emergency departments are overcrowded because hospitals are full and we do not have enough staffed beds in ur country, especially Alberta.

In addition, far too many patients who no longer need acute hospital care are waiting for rehabilitation, home care, assisted living or continuing care. That blocks patient FLOW throughout the system.

As someone who considers himself a Progressive Conservative and has spent more than 35 years working in emergency medicine, I don't support the current direction of acute healthcare reform in Alberta.

This isn't about public versus private. It's about leadership, operational expertise and getting the fundamentals right.

We need experienced healthcare leaders who understand how hospitals actually function and who are accountable for improving patient flow, safety and outcomes.

Healthcare isn't ideological. It's operational.

P.S. Get Vaccinated and stay home if you are sick

My prediction this fall season: "It will be a "shit show" and the worst ER & Health system Crises in our lifetime...unless @ABDanielleSmith & @FreeAlbertaRob actually listen to the front line staff (for their own political hides)...

I would not count on Danielle to fix anything...she was a friend of mine and I have lost complete confident in her on healthcare... we are all on our own.

Someone, please tell me I am wrong...

@ABDanielleSmith @nenshi @RealTalkRJ @cspotweet @JMedding @PfParks @NightShiftMD @TheSGEM @raghu_venugopal @JMeddings @BradenMannsYYC @FreeAlbertaRob @Albertadoctors @DavidStaplesYEG @TheBreakdownAB @UCPCaucus @Alberta_UCP @albertaNDP

[Elysa Bathe @em_bathe]

Sadly what has not had the coverage it should is that LAPP was also taken over by AIMCO. Nurses, firefighters, etc also all affected. Kudos to you teachers who are continuing to stay vigilant.

[The AB Teacher Pension War Room🍁 @yomeeks]

This is your daily pension announcement: following the UCP "Friday at 4pm release" custom the 2025 @aimcoinvests Annual report was released. Go find it at https://t.co/reXhYmo618
At nearly $200 billion..... #AbLeg

[Katy E 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @MargTokar]

Albertans have opened their legislature to rats and cockroaches.

No surprise then, when they have , in turn, opened our doors to the same in our restaurants, day cares, LTCs.

Alberta: a govt of grift, graft, & grime. Dirty…in all senses of the word.

[Elysa Bathe @em_bathe]

@YFIHQ Wow

[Dr. Raj Sherman @RajSherman]

March 3rd: This old guy came out of retirement two years ago to help because we are short ER doctors. I just worked three very long shifts in a small town near #yeg.

Despite our small ER being half blocked by ALC patients, we receive ambulances diverted from blocks away from the Misericordia Hospital in West Edmonton, including critically ill EMS transfers.

When ambulances are diverted 30 km out of the capital city to a small-town ER, you know the system in Edmonton remains in CRISIS, as "the flu" is fading.

More on Triage Liaison Physicians and the ER crisis:
1. @Albertadoctors state clearly: “The delay in implementing Triage Liaison Physicians has not been on the AMA’s end.” (see letter below)

2. Premier @ABDanielleSmith says “it takes two parties to negotiate.” (see video in other tweet)

3. I say: Time to stop the NONSENSE and implement TLP ASAP while @JasonNixonAB clears ALC beds so flow can happen again.

Albertans are suffering needlessly: leaving ERs without treatment, some later dying at home following delayed access, others arresting in hallways, or waiting 8 hours in septic shock.

Facts:
1. A tragic death in an ER on Dec 22 and many more documented cases since (see below).

2. Feb 1: Ministerial Jones acknowledged it is a crisis by introducing a Ministerial Order and “immediate TLP implementation.”

3. March 3: Roles remain unfilled and government is litigating this via media.

ERs remain in crisis mode, with CTAS 2s and 3s sitting in waiting rooms for hours and city ambulances transporting critically ill patients 30 km to small towns.

Two ministers (@AdrianaLaGrange and @MattJonesYYC) are involved in decisions on TLP (a highly specialized crisis protocol) without fully engaging those who designed and delivered it previously.

For context, I have worked on ER access crisis solutions over two decades as:
• Former Chair, HQCA
• Advisor to three health ministers
• Former Associate Minister of Health
• Former Emergency Medicine Section President
• Practicing ER physician who performed the TLP role

I respectfully urge Minister Jones to sit down with Dr. Warren Thirsk and Alberta’s emergency leaders, make a safe and rational decision grounded in frontline expertise, and implement this immediately.

The Minister is ready, as evidenced by the Ministerial Order. ER physicians are ready: with proper private space, dedicated nursing support, medico-legal clarity, and fair 2026 compensation for high-risk overtime work.

There is $1.4 billion in additional physician healthcare spending.

This fix costs only a few million out of a $34.4Billion budget. One serious lawsuit alone could exceed the difference between 2009 and 2026 compensation.

Decisions are best made from the bottom up:
1. AHS/Covenant administration/One Minister & frontline staff
2. Not top-down from Premier/Two Ministers/Two Sets of Bureaucrats & AMA President/AMA Board

Albertans deserve operational leadership now.

Attachments below:
1. AMA Letter
2. Verified & Documented bad outcomes
3. Aug/25 Hospital data: >100% capacity
4. Aug/25 data: Patients leaving without treatment

We can get this done, unless @ABDanielleSmith wants to "play chicken" to see who blinks first or she doesn't really want it done.

This is not a new rodeo. We have done this before.

#abhealth #abpoli #AbLeg
@PfParks @JMeddings @nenshi @UCPCaucus @Alberta_UCP @albertaNDP @AlbertaNDPHQ @ryanjespersen @cspotweet @TheBreakdownAB, despite t

[Charles Adler @charlesadler]

.@ZainVelji is not an alarmist. Grievance grows the math. Chronic grievance rings Zain's alarms bells & mine. Have been based in Alberta 3 times. Cannot pretend to be an outsider. Won't pretend that the threat of #ABseparatism is not serious. It is as serious as an avalanche.

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

11 hospitals.

Just to get to the Canadian average.

11.

Whole.

Hospitals.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[Parksy @PfParks]

https://t.co/GtLZIROGJp
The Premier has ordered the termination and payout of over 15M in HC leadership alone since taking over.
This is obscene. Think of the frontline care this could have bought.
1/5

[Parksy @PfParks]

At the same time she was going to cancel popsicles for kids receiving cancer chemotherapy as a cost savings measure! She only ordered her team to reverse course when ABs found out about it!
2/5

[Parksy @PfParks]

This👇
Take a read.

Every emergency physician across Canada knows instantly what will happen if you allow all our specialists to flee the difficult work in the hospitals, and elect to do the easy private pay work…

More Canadians will needlessly suffer and die.

[David Shepherd @DShepYEG]

Don Braid is right.

It was an ugly day as UCP MLAs:

➡️ Fired the Auditor-General

➡️ Throttled the AG’s audit budget

➡️ Refused funding for the Chief Electiral Officer to do the work the UCP’s own laws on petitions & referenda obligate him to do

I was astounded. #ableg

[Wenda Ismay Toews🇨🇦 @ToewsWenda]

Voting for any mayor candidate associated with the UCP or Conservative Party in Calgary, is a vote to support Danielle Smith’s ideas.

Smith changed the rules for municipal elections, so that she could get Conservative claws into cities across Alberta.

[Megan @mig14]

Did you know? In Alberta, principals, vice principals, consultants, counsellors, catchment coordinators,… basically all educational leaders are classified as teachers, and are part of the ATA, and will be on strike.

This is why dividing students by teachers is inaccurate.

[Matt Grier @MattGrierMusic]

UCP math is not being able to afford giving teachers a raise but being able to afford to start a separate police force no one asked for and the public has rejected.

[Jason Scott 🇨🇦 @JasonOnTheDrums]

#ableg #abpoli

Danielle Smith’s September:

- Sept 15-17: Separation Panel Host
- Sept 18: UCP Fundraiser
- Sept 22: UCP Silent Auction
- Sept 29: Separation Panel Host

Visiting Classrooms? Not on the calendar!

Priorities matter.

[Aaron @aasingleton17]

While the UCP has you debating trans-rights, they tear down your healthcare system.

While the UCP has you debating book bans, they underfund your kid's education.

While the UCP has you debating separation, they make your life more expensive.

Each fight is a distraction #ableg

[Barbara Larochelle 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 @BarbLarochelle]

Meanwhile, within the last year, UCP voted *themselves* a pay raise, and extra funds for expenses, and raised their accommodation allowance, and a ‘transition allowance’ for when they leave office, and put more people in cabinet with bigger salaries.

[Wenda Ismay Toews🇨🇦 @ToewsWenda]

Wake Up Albertans, my husband and I just got this email from DDRC. UCP is planning on cancelling AISH and replacing it with their own ADAP program:

“We are reaching out with urgency about the Alberta government's proposed replacement for AISH, the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP). The changes under consideration will have serious and harmful impacts on Albertans with severe disabilities.”
The government's feedback window closes September 12, 2025. This is the one chance to influence a program that will directly shape the lives of tens of thousands of vulnerable Albertans.
If ADAP moves forward as outlined

 *   A $200/month cut is coming. A temporary transition benefit would only delay the cut until January 1, 2028.
 *   New applicants after July 2026 would face the lower rate immediately.
The consequences are clear: deeper poverty, reduced dignity, and increased hardship.
Act Now - Your Voice is Critical
We urge you to speak up today. Policymakers must hear that Albertans reject changes that strip support from people with disabilities.
Here's how you can respond:

1.  Complete the Online Survey (the most direct action)
Survey Link<https://t.co/KBYyPSICyS>
 2.  Submit Written Feedback to: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
 3.  Attend a Telephone Town Hall (dates in early September will be posted here<https://t.co/s7nb7nfndn>).
Resources to Support Your Response

[Elysa Bathe @em_bathe]

So incredibly scary

[CathyNotToday2 🌿 @Cathy2NotToday]

JUST AIRED

Very disturbing interview on Jen Psaki with Dr Demetre Daskalajis who resigned from CDC

He stated that RFK Jr agenda is based in eugenics where the strong will survive and thus be “selected” to reproduce … and the weak will get left to die which is why Kennedy is defunding feeding needy children … where have we heard this eugenics theory before ?

“There is a fundamental scary thing happening here and we are trying to raise the red flags so people know ”

[Sharif Haji @SharifHajiMLA]

In April, the UCP claimed Alberta had a $5B deficit &amp; used it to underfund healthcare &amp; education.

Now, just under 4 moths, they announced $8B surplus. That’s $13B swing in160 days.

How?

They either misled Albertas or they’re fiscally incompetent. https://t.co/5LFs4YM6QL