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Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
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28 May, 6 tweets, 3 min read
Today marks the last day of rural health week in AB. 
 
First, a shoutout to all of my colleagues in rural AB, doing an amazing job working in an under-resourced setting. 
 
Here are just a few examples of how rural health is being attacked and undermined in AB.
 
A thread… /1
Multiple rural hospitals have had to pause, reduce, and even close services due to MD shortages (hmmm, wonder why?) - this includes the closure of multiple ERs

Elk Point:
albertahealthservices.ca/news/releases/…

Rocky Mountain House
albertahealthservices.ca/news/releases/…

Fairview:
albertahealthservices.ca/news/releases/…

/2
Additional services include pauses of C-sections in Westlock and all surgical services in St. Paul.

albertahealthservices.ca/news/releases/…

albertahealthservices.ca/news/releases/…

/3
This leaves patients in these communities forced to travel long distances to access care that they should be able to receive closer to home. /4
This also means that those neighboring hospitals are taxed with an increased volume of patients when they are already very busy.

Of course, I can’t leave out the hot topic of the week - the aggressive reopening plan and it’s impact on rural Albertans. /5
The plan ignores low vaccination uptake in some areas – incl. rural communities that are dealing with MD shortages.

“All the areas with less than 30 per cent were smaller or rural communities, with the exception of the city of Grande Prairie.” /6

cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

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More from @shazmamithani

Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
26 May
Well...here we go again. Another reopening plan based on politics and not science or logic.

In short, what I would have liked to see is something closer to the measured approach Ontario is using:

news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounde…

My thoughts in more detail... /1
1. Reopening plan relies on just ONE vaccination dose, with no mention of the second dose. We know that first doses are not as effective, and this plan gives no incentive to getting fully vaccinated. /2
2. Reliance on LAGGING indicators again. We've done this 2 times before and failed. Every single time, the leading indicators have increased dramatically, and led to another increase in restrictions. When will we learn? /3
Read 6 tweets
Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
2 May
How can so many people give zero fucks about anyone but themselves?

I’m having a hard time with this one today, folks. We are now at 3 days of >2000 cases/day. We’ve surpassed our wave 2 ICU peak. Young, healthy people are landing in hospital. /1
All this while 1000s deliberately gather and break PH rules and risk spreading COVID. For what? Because “freedoms?”

We are getting to the point where we are discussing taking away the freedom to have access to an ICU bed if things continue like this. What about that freedom? /2
You don’t think it’s real? You think it’s a hoax? Tell that to the 30 and 40 year olds who my colleagues and I have to help breathe because they’re SO sick from COVID. Tell that to the person in a car accident that might be deemed “too sick” to get an ICU bed. /3
Read 7 tweets
Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
27 Apr
Things that stuck out to me at @jkenney’s presser today:

1. He mentioned “natural immunity” multiple times - does this mean it’s a good thing so many people are getting infected as far as he’s concerned? By the way, this philosophy is very flawed. /1
2. He mentioned that new restrictions won’t stop ppl from breaking the rules and won’t target where infection is spreading. I’d like to see the sector specific data to back this up. Media has been asking for this for months. Also, why are places of worship still open?! /2
3. Ongoing reliance on vaccinations. This should NOT be a race between vaccines and variants, but he’s turning it into one. We aren’t even certain how effective vaccines are against some of the VOCs. We need to slow down community spread and bring numbers DOWN in a big way. /3
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
5 Apr
Based on current plans, wave 3 may have LESS bed capacity than wave 2 for many reasons:

1. We can’t cohort COVID pts in the same rooms anymore because of the VOCs. Before, we could put 2-4 pts in the same room on COVID wards, but now have to wait for VOC results /1
2. We can’t use the OR recovery rooms as ICU overflow space anymore because of the VOCs and inability to cohort multiple COVID patients in one space (the recovery room is one large open space with multiple patient spaces) /2
3. HCWs are burnt out and taking appropriate mental health time off. This means that we are short staffed and have to close beds because they can’t be staffed. I’ve seen this happen almost daily at work. Again, this effectively reduces the space we have to work with /3
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
3 Feb
I think it's time we talk about how healthcare workers are managing the burden of this pandemic. A thread...

Your healthcare workers are tired. We have been fighting to keep you healthy for almost 1 year now, and we cannot handle a third wave. /1
This last 11 months has been terrible for everyone, but the last month brought a glimmer of hope. Hope with the decreasing cases, the arrival of vaccines, and the steadying of hospital numbers. That hope has now been directly challenged by the entry of variant cases of COVID. /2
The variants spread more easily, can be more deadly, and have started to spread in the community. The variants are threatening the hard work we all have done in recent weeks to get control of this virus. They are threatening a spike in cases that could lead to another wave... /3
Read 13 tweets
Dr. Shazma Mithani Profile picture
18 Jan
I'm calling on @AHS_media to clarify potential misinformation being circulated about the 16,000 vaccine doses available to HCWs this past weekend.

1. When did these slots become available? Talking to those who booked early last week, the 1st available appts were late Jan. /1
This first question is important to clarify, since there is much chatter about HCWs not wanting to fill these slots, leading to a plea by @AHS_media and @CMOH_Alberta on Thursday to fill them. My understanding is that the slots opened the SAME DAY the plea went out. /2
The public needs details on this so that false information about HCWs not wanting to be vaccinated can be stopped immediately.

2. How many HCWs were eligible for vaccinations this past weekend?

3. Were there any issues with notification of these eligible HCWs? /3
Read 5 tweets

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