About Me
The short story is that I’m a physician specializing in kidneys, health economics, and finding solutions to Canada’s health care challenges. I’m also a father to three grown men, a mountain biker and runner, and a big fan of my dog, Doug.
The longer story is that about 10 years ago, nearly 20 years after I finished training, the realities of Canadian health care became deeply personal. My then 16-year-old niece became really sick, and I saw first-hand how all pieces of health care need to come together to care for someone.
That experience nudged me into health care leadership, at what was once Canada’s largest single health authority (formerly known as Alberta Health Services). I helped build out a structure and path to integrate scientific evidence into practice. Eventually, I joined the executive leadership table, where I witnessed and participated in the heart of system-wide health care decision making.
I saw the best in health care, the amazing people who worked in the system, but I also saw some really shady business and lots of unnecessary interference. My career changed the day that I was ordered, based on political whims, to fire Alberta’s former Chief Medical Officer for Health from a new job that she had applied for and successfully earned.
I’ve since written a book called Dying for Care, which is being published in early 2027, launched a podcast called It Should be Different, and entered into the realm of health care social media educator (I’ll never feel comfortable calling myself an influencer). Our healthcare system that has existed since the 1960s is crumbling and in crisis. Our Canadian health care system should be different, it can be different, and across the country, there are patients, family members, physicians, nurses, researchers, policy teams, and even some politicians, working to heal Medicare.