We notice a research team led by the University of Alberta's Yazid Al Hamarneh has published findings on pharmacy care clinics in Alberta as the fourth anniversary of the new clinic model arrives. Al Hamarneh and his fellow researchers reviewed 3,305 written accounts from people who visited the first such clinic between June 2022 and January 2023. They found that clients with a family physician visited primarily for acute common ailments, while clients without one predominantly sought assistance with chronic health conditions. "Our findings indicate that the community pharmacy care clinic has improved access to primary care services for a wide variety of individuals regardless of if they had a family physician or not," the study concludes. "According to the self-reported data, the clinic provided another avenue for continuity of care for chronic disease management, particularly for those who do not have a family physician."
Pharmacists in Alberta have been able to prescribe medication and provide injections since 2007, but the U of A's partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart has seen the expansion of the service from that first clinic in 2022 to more than 100 today, including a few dozen in the Edmonton region. The United Conservative Party has pointed to pharmacist care as a salve for long wait times at emergency rooms and difficulties obtaining a family doctor. Access to healthcare remains a challenge, however. Sarah Hoffman, the NDP critic for hospitals and surgical facilities, called for an emergency healthcare debate on Feb. 24, echoing previous calls for urgent action issued by her party and CUPE.
Hoffman's call came as the Alberta legislature reconvened, with the UCP government set to table its 2026-2027 budget on Feb. 26. It has said the budget will include a $7.7-billion investment in physicians, a 22% increase over 2025. That breaks down to $7.3 billion for physician compensation and $450 million for recruitment and education. The four-year master agreement with the Alberta Medical Association expires on March 31.
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Sherif Hanafy Mahmoud, an associate professor at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and a neurocritical care clinical pharmacist at the University of Alberta Hospital, won the Practice Innovation Award. He initiated and established the role of pharmacists in the neuro-ICU at the hospital and has been recognized internationally for advancing neurocritical care pharmacy practice.
A new study by Elizabeth Kusi-Appiah, a University of Alberta nursing PhD candidate, looks at the experiences of Black women accessing intensive and acute care. Kusi-Appiah told CBC Edmonton's Radio Active about how having medical concerns downplayed, dismissed, or ignored by healthcare professionals can have a negative impact on a patient's experience. "I am a nurse myself, and what gets me out of the bed to go to work is the fact that I want to make (an) impact in somebody's life," she said.
Megan Vernon created a medical spa experience designed for people with melanin-rich skin after being rejected for a chemical peel treatment because of her darker complexion. The Melanin Studio at 11503 66 Street NW has earned positive recognition, including the Health & Wellness Award at the Her Legacy Awards last year.
Janet Kemei, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing at MacEwan University, appeared on the Research Recast(ed) podcast to discuss the importance of accessible mental health care. The conversation covered stigma surrounding mental health in Black communities and how technology can be leveraged to make mental health care more accessible.
Heather Armstrong, an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, discussed the gut-brain connection and its relevance for first responder health on the Just us on Justice and Other Things podcast. The Better First Responders initiative has so far found that first responders experience poorer overall health across multiple biological systems compared to the general population, she said based on early data.
A University of Alberta research team has identified a new drug target to treat harmful E. coli bacteria, which cause nearly 250,000 deaths a year from urinary tract infections. The team showed that inhibiting a protease in pathogenic E. coli prevented bacterial adhesion and invasion into bladder and kidney cells.
Genome Alberta, Ontario Genomics, and Genome Prairie are investing in Canadian companies scaling biotechnologies to strengthen agriculture and the food economy. Companies can access up to one-third of the funding for projects valued at $525,000 or more, with a deadline to apply of March 18.
David Prodan of the Canadian Mental Health Association has published Squeezed Out, an arts-based, community-engaged "research zine" about housing affordability that centres the lived experiences of low-income tenants in Edmonton. The work, based on collaborative workshops with nine co‑researchers, argues that the housing system is designed to prioritize profit over human dignity and identifies four interconnected crises: colonization, unmet needs, tenants' rights, and homelessness.
Homeward Trust Edmonton is celebrating 15 years of FIND Edmonton, its used furniture store and social enterprise. A March 7 event at 5120 122 Street NW combines a donation drive, prize giveaways, a 15% discount, and more.
You Can Ride 2 is a charitable program offering adaptive bikes and hands-on lessons to remove barriers for children with disabilities. "When we talk about a bike, we can all kind of remember that first time, that rite of passage, and that moment of freedom and happiness — and it's something you really take for granted," program manager Emily Kim told CBC Edmonton's Radio Active. "Our goal is to make that accessible to all people regardless (of ability)."
The province has issued an indefinite measles exposure advisory for Parkland County, advising those living, working, and travelling in the county to be aware of the risk of contracting the disease. Adriana LaGrange, the minister of primary and preventative health services, said a blanket advisory was issued because it wasn't possible to pinpoint a specific location of exposure. Parkland County Mayor Rod Shaigec expressed concerns about a lack of communication with his council, and officials from Spruce Grove said they knew nothing more than what the province had released.
The City of Edmonton deactivated its extreme weather response on Feb. 24 as temperatures improved. The response was activated on Feb. 16 in response to extreme cold, with winter shelter shuttles continuing to operate nightly until March 31. Meanwhile, physician Louis Hugo Francescutti cautioned that people with heart conditions and those experiencing homelessness are more vulnerable in cold weather.
About half of the surplus Turkish-made children's pain medication imported by the Alberta government in 2023 has been destroyed, Postmedia reported. Alberta Health Services said 700,000 bottles were donated to eight countries, while the other 700,000 bottles were disposed of due to looming expiration dates and logistical challenges. The medication cost $478,000 to store between 2023 and 2025, and disposing of it cost a further $718,000. The bottles were imported amid a Canada-wide shortage as part of a $70-million deal with Turkish manufacturer Atabay and Edmonton-based importer MHCare Medical, though $49 million of that contract remains unfulfilled.
Joss Reimer, a physician from Manitoba and past president of the Canadian Medical Association, has been named Canada's new chief public health officer. She will replace Theresa Tam on April 1.
Two more supervised drug consumption sites in Alberta will close this year as the province continues to move away from harm reduction services. The supervised consumption site at Calgary's Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre and the overdose prevention site in Lethbridge are expected to shut their doors, leaving just three sites operating in Alberta, including two in Edmonton at the George Spady Society and Radius Community Health & Healing. The site at the Royal Alexandra Hospital closed in 2025.
This roundup was sponsored by Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation.
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