Aaron Derfel
@aaronderfel.bsky.social
I'm a health journalist at the Montreal Gazette. You can also find me on Mastodon at mas.to/@aderfel and Telegram at t.me/AaronDerfel.
My bio: https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/aaron-derfel.html
My bio: https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/aaron-derfel.html
11) But in Canada, physicians like @dralandrummond.bsky.social have been sounding the alarm for years, likening Canadian ERs to dying canaries in a coal mine shaft. Yet nothing has been done.
Nothing.
End of thread.
Nothing.
End of thread.
October 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
11) But in Canada, physicians like @dralandrummond.bsky.social have been sounding the alarm for years, likening Canadian ERs to dying canaries in a coal mine shaft. Yet nothing has been done.
Nothing.
End of thread.
Nothing.
End of thread.
9) The MEI study points out the situation has been growing worse in ERs since 2019. The chart below shows nearly 27% of Quebec ER patients languishing on stretchers for at least 24 hours. The goal should be zero for that length of time. Also note no improvement since 2020.
October 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
9) The MEI study points out the situation has been growing worse in ERs since 2019. The chart below shows nearly 27% of Quebec ER patients languishing on stretchers for at least 24 hours. The goal should be zero for that length of time. Also note no improvement since 2020.
8) In September, the Montreal Economic Institute published a study that concluded "too many Canadians are leaving emergency rooms untreated." Quebec reported the highest number for 2024-2025 of any province: a staggering 428,676.
October 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
8) In September, the Montreal Economic Institute published a study that concluded "too many Canadians are leaving emergency rooms untreated." Quebec reported the highest number for 2024-2025 of any province: a staggering 428,676.
5) Enfin, mon texte s'appuyait sur des faits et des documents. Je pense avoir été juste et impartial sur une question d'intérêt public qui a suscité de vives passions. Il est évident que cet article ne sera pas le dernier sur ce sujet. Fin de l'enfilade.
August 30, 2025 at 9:22 PM
5) Enfin, mon texte s'appuyait sur des faits et des documents. Je pense avoir été juste et impartial sur une question d'intérêt public qui a suscité de vives passions. Il est évident que cet article ne sera pas le dernier sur ce sujet. Fin de l'enfilade.
2) Cet incident soulève des questions quant à la manière dont l'Université de Sherbrooke et le cabinet de la ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur, Pascale Déry, ont traité les plaintes concernant l'étudiant en question.
August 30, 2025 at 9:22 PM
2) Cet incident soulève des questions quant à la manière dont l'Université de Sherbrooke et le cabinet de la ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur, Pascale Déry, ont traité les plaintes concernant l'étudiant en question.
3) A 2019 study by Canadian researchers blamed climate change for the northward shift of tick-borne infections like Lyme disease. "Climate warming...(has) contributed to the expansion of the range of several tick species into higher latitudes in North America," they warned.
August 19, 2025 at 11:04 AM
3) A 2019 study by Canadian researchers blamed climate change for the northward shift of tick-borne infections like Lyme disease. "Climate warming...(has) contributed to the expansion of the range of several tick species into higher latitudes in North America," they warned.
6) Une fois qu'ils ont obtenu une consultation, les patients orthopédiques doivent attendre plusieurs mois supplémentaires avant leur opération, parfois plus d'un an, ce qui semble contraire à une décision de la Cour suprême concernant les délais d'attente.👇
August 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
6) Une fois qu'ils ont obtenu une consultation, les patients orthopédiques doivent attendre plusieurs mois supplémentaires avant leur opération, parfois plus d'un an, ce qui semble contraire à une décision de la Cour suprême concernant les délais d'attente.👇
5) Pendant ce temps, les listes d'attente pour les consultations et les chirurgies ne cessent de s'allonger. Exemple : près de 43 000 Québécois attendent depuis plus longtemps que ce qui est médicalement acceptable pour obtenir une consultation avec un chirurgien orthopédiste. 👇
August 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
5) Pendant ce temps, les listes d'attente pour les consultations et les chirurgies ne cessent de s'allonger. Exemple : près de 43 000 Québécois attendent depuis plus longtemps que ce qui est médicalement acceptable pour obtenir une consultation avec un chirurgien orthopédiste. 👇
4) Parmi les médecins qui exercent maintenant en dehors du réseau RAMQ, on compte 561 omnipraticiens, 54 anesthésistes, 49 dermatologues, 39 chirurgiens orthopédistes, 24 chirurgiens plasticiens, 21 obstétriciens-gynécologues, 14 urologues et même deux urgentologues.👇
August 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
4) Parmi les médecins qui exercent maintenant en dehors du réseau RAMQ, on compte 561 omnipraticiens, 54 anesthésistes, 49 dermatologues, 39 chirurgiens orthopédistes, 24 chirurgiens plasticiens, 21 obstétriciens-gynécologues, 14 urologues et même deux urgentologues.👇
3) J'ai appris que depuis la fin avril, Santé Québec a autorisé les demandes de 246 médecins souhaitant passer au secteur privé. Et ce, malgré le projet de loi 83, qui était censé inverser la tendance. 👇
August 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
3) J'ai appris que depuis la fin avril, Santé Québec a autorisé les demandes de 246 médecins souhaitant passer au secteur privé. Et ce, malgré le projet de loi 83, qui était censé inverser la tendance. 👇
1) Il y a vingt ans, j'ai écrit une série de six articles sur la privatisation croissante des soins de santé au Québec. L'un des textes traitait de 90 médecins qui ne participaient plus au système public. Comme j'étais naïf à l'époque ! 👇
August 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
1) Il y a vingt ans, j'ai écrit une série de six articles sur la privatisation croissante des soins de santé au Québec. L'un des textes traitait de 90 médecins qui ne participaient plus au système public. Comme j'étais naïf à l'époque ! 👇
8) Despite higher spending, people wait longer than ever for medical consultations. Today, 43,000 Quebecers are waiting past medically acceptable delays to consult an orthopedic surgeon. If they're lucky to get that consultation, they then have to wait longer for their surgery.
August 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
8) Despite higher spending, people wait longer than ever for medical consultations. Today, 43,000 Quebecers are waiting past medically acceptable delays to consult an orthopedic surgeon. If they're lucky to get that consultation, they then have to wait longer for their surgery.
7) And it doesn't seem like things are getting better. In June 1994 — 31 years ago! — when I covered the environment for The Gazette, I wrote a story about how "smog continues to be a major source of pollution in the Montreal area."
July 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
7) And it doesn't seem like things are getting better. In June 1994 — 31 years ago! — when I covered the environment for The Gazette, I wrote a story about how "smog continues to be a major source of pollution in the Montreal area."
2) The figures were drawn from IQAir, which bases its reporting on Montreal's official air quality monitoring portal, along with 10 individual contributors across 22 stations on the island. Duchesneau St. in the heart of Hochelaga reported the worst air quality Sunday at 1 p.m.
July 27, 2025 at 6:06 PM
2) The figures were drawn from IQAir, which bases its reporting on Montreal's official air quality monitoring portal, along with 10 individual contributors across 22 stations on the island. Duchesneau St. in the heart of Hochelaga reported the worst air quality Sunday at 1 p.m.
ADDENDUM: This, from a reader today, giving new meaning to Kafkaesque when it comes to health care in Quebec (and probably the rest of Canada, too.) 👇
July 16, 2025 at 4:59 PM
ADDENDUM: This, from a reader today, giving new meaning to Kafkaesque when it comes to health care in Quebec (and probably the rest of Canada, too.) 👇
3) One of the longest waits is to see a dermatologist. This has occurred as one-quarter of Quebec's dermatologists have gone to the private-for-profit side. If you want to see a private dermatologist, you can get an appointment the next day. But it will cost you $250. See below.
July 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
3) One of the longest waits is to see a dermatologist. This has occurred as one-quarter of Quebec's dermatologists have gone to the private-for-profit side. If you want to see a private dermatologist, you can get an appointment the next day. But it will cost you $250. See below.
2) In total, almost 910,000 Quebecers are in need of a medical specialist. Until now, much of the debate about the sorry state of health care in Quebec has focused on access to family doctors. But access to medical specialists is now factually worse. Please see the chart below.
July 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
2) In total, almost 910,000 Quebecers are in need of a medical specialist. Until now, much of the debate about the sorry state of health care in Quebec has focused on access to family doctors. But access to medical specialists is now factually worse. Please see the chart below.
10) Tonight in Montreal, the ER at the Royal Victoria Hospital is filled to 188 per cent capacity. At least a dozen patients have been languishing on gurneys in corridors for at least two days. They're lucky if they can get a pillow. Please see the chart below.
June 21, 2025 at 11:50 PM
10) Tonight in Montreal, the ER at the Royal Victoria Hospital is filled to 188 per cent capacity. At least a dozen patients have been languishing on gurneys in corridors for at least two days. They're lucky if they can get a pillow. Please see the chart below.
3) As the orange line in the chart below indicates, the number of cardiac patients waiting beyond medically acceptable delays is rising, and the blue line shows the number undergoing life-saving operations on time is declining. The chilling result: more and more sudden deaths.
June 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
3) As the orange line in the chart below indicates, the number of cardiac patients waiting beyond medically acceptable delays is rising, and the blue line shows the number undergoing life-saving operations on time is declining. The chilling result: more and more sudden deaths.
2) Yet the health ministry appears to be downplaying this crisis, claiming hearts surgeons' warnings amount to a bargaining tactic. The facts show the problem has been growing worse. Nearly two-thirds of heart patients now wait past medically acceptable delays. See below. 👇
June 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
2) Yet the health ministry appears to be downplaying this crisis, claiming hearts surgeons' warnings amount to a bargaining tactic. The facts show the problem has been growing worse. Nearly two-thirds of heart patients now wait past medically acceptable delays. See below. 👇
2) The Fatal Scroll recalls Umberto Eco's The Name of The Rose, but is not at all derivative. It's refreshingly novel, in part, because it's based on the latest science surrounding the potential deciphering of scrolls that were instantly carbonized when Vesuvius blew in 79 AD.
May 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
2) The Fatal Scroll recalls Umberto Eco's The Name of The Rose, but is not at all derivative. It's refreshingly novel, in part, because it's based on the latest science surrounding the potential deciphering of scrolls that were instantly carbonized when Vesuvius blew in 79 AD.
3) The offensive remarks featured on Discord also included threats against the LGBTQ2S+ and Jewish communities. (Please see the image below.) A Discord spokesperson told me that the San-Francisco-based app has also launched an investigation and will remove the hateful content.
May 10, 2025 at 1:58 AM
3) The offensive remarks featured on Discord also included threats against the LGBTQ2S+ and Jewish communities. (Please see the image below.) A Discord spokesperson told me that the San-Francisco-based app has also launched an investigation and will remove the hateful content.
2) A group representing Jewish physicians alleges that a student at Dawson is one of several in Quebec to post on a Discord channel antisemitic, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous slurs since at least February. Below is an image of one racist epithet. 👇
May 10, 2025 at 1:58 AM
2) A group representing Jewish physicians alleges that a student at Dawson is one of several in Quebec to post on a Discord channel antisemitic, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous slurs since at least February. Below is an image of one racist epithet. 👇
5) Pour les anglophones qui ont choisi de rester dans notre patrie - de l'Estrie à la Gaspésie, du Grand Nord à Hemmingford, nous adorons le Québec, sa langue et sa culture. Nous aimons notre poutine et nous aimons notre viande fumée dans le restaurant acheté par Céline.
April 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
5) Pour les anglophones qui ont choisi de rester dans notre patrie - de l'Estrie à la Gaspésie, du Grand Nord à Hemmingford, nous adorons le Québec, sa langue et sa culture. Nous aimons notre poutine et nous aimons notre viande fumée dans le restaurant acheté par Céline.
5) The work that used to be conducted by that DEI office — which had won widespread national praise for its groundbreaking work — will now be overseen by Dr. Beth-Ann Cummings, who is vice-dean of education and community engagement. See below.
April 25, 2025 at 11:09 AM
5) The work that used to be conducted by that DEI office — which had won widespread national praise for its groundbreaking work — will now be overseen by Dr. Beth-Ann Cummings, who is vice-dean of education and community engagement. See below.