The Healthcare Divide
Universal healthcare is supposed to mean that everyone gets equitable access, treatment and care. But do we really?
From the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and hosted by Dr. Alika Lafontaine, The Healthcare Divide is a new podcast that exposes uncomfortable truths, troubling realities and innovative efforts to overcome racism in Canada’s healthcare system.
Patients, healthcare workers and medical experts weigh in on everything from experiences of harm to grassroots care movements, policy change, and explorations of artificial intelligence to bridge the divide with real stories, data-driven insights, and expert interviews that expose the cracks in the system.
It’s like mythbusters but for healthcare – The Healthcare Divide takes an unflinching look at who gets left out in Canada’s “universal” quest for wellness, and what is being done to build a healthier, fairer future for all.
Host Dr. Alika Lafontaine, is an award-winning physician, past president of the Canadian Medical Association and the first Indigenous doctor listed in Medical Post’s 50 Most Powerful Doctors. The Health Care Divide is brought to you by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with support from Pfizer Canada and produced by Antica Productions and Makwa Creative.
Produced By: Kevin Sexton
Client: Canadian Race Relations Foundation
About the Host
Named Maclean’s top Health Care Innovator of 2023, Dr. Alika Lafontaine has been at the epicentre of healthcare system change for almost two decades. An internationally recognized expert on health policy, change management and anti-racism, he is the first Indigenous physician and the youngest doctor to lead the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in its 156-year history, and the first Indigenous physician to be listed on The Medical Post’s 50 Most Powerful Doctors.
Labelled with a learning disability as a child and told he’d never graduate high school; Dr. Lafontaine has been both an outsider and insider on the change continuum across health and social systems, leveraging these unique life experiences into serial real-world action. He is a past President of the Indigenous Physicians Association and Canadian Medical Association, a past board member of the Alberta Medical Association, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, HealthCareCAN and Canadian Medical Association Journal. He has also held many leadership positions within Alberta Health Services, and is the co-founder of Safespace Networks and the Indigenous Health Alliance.