A Morning with Jane Philpott

A Morning With Jane Philpott

SECOND SHOW ADDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND! Thank you, Calgary, for your commitment to being part of big conversations about healthcare. The April 11 evening show with Dr. Jane Philpott sold out in 24 hours. We are thrilled to announce that we have added an intimate, early-morning conversation on April 12 about her practical yet ambitious new book Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada. This special morning event, hosted by Wordfest's Shelley Youngblut, starts at 8AM MT and includes an audience Q & A and book signing, fuelled by Owl’s Nest Books. Ticket holders can pre-order copies of Health for All here for pick-up at the event. 

We are grateful to Penguin Random House Canada for making it possible to connect you with Jane Philpott.

About Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada

A profoundly insightful meditation of what health – physical, mental, spiritual, and societal –really means, coupled with a thoughtful analysis of the links between health and politics. Health For All is a healing balm for what ails Canadian health care, and democracy more broadly.” –André Picard, author of Neglected No More

From one of Canada's most respected and high-profile health professionals, a timely, practical, ambitious, and deeply personal call for action on health that sets out the roadmap to our future well-being.

Jane Philpott has spent her life learning what makes people sick and what keeps people well. She has witnessed miracles in modern medicine. She has also watched children die of starvation in a world that has plenty of food. With Health for All, she sounds a clarion call for a radical disruption in a health care system that is broken – but not beyond repair. The vision is rooted in a deep-seated commitment to health equity.

Decades ago, a few visionary Canadian leaders put laws in place to ensure health care insurance for all. But the structures to deliver that care were never fully developed as envisioned. As a result, our health systems are not comprehensive or well-coordinated. In the wake of a pandemic, we risk it all falling apart. More than six million people have no family doctor, nor any other access to primary care. Emergency rooms are routinely closed. Exhausted health workers wonder if it will ever get better. Some say we should hand health care over to the private sector. But to abandon our commitment to publicly funded health care now would only lead to more expensive and less equitable care. Philpott outlines a different solution—an ambitious, once-in-a-generation reset of health systems with universal access to primary care teams.

What sets this book apart is that it’s more than a prescription for better medical care. Philpott looks at the big picture of health for all. This includes an intimate look at the personal roots of well-being: hope, belonging, meaning, and purpose. Then, through real-life stories, she examines the impact of the social determinants of health. Finally, she explains that none of this will happen without the political will to do the hard work of rebuilding a healthy society. The remedy we await is serious leadership to implement what we already know and to put the well-being of Canadians at the top of the agenda.

About Dr. Jane Philpott

Dr. Jane Philpott is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Director of the School of Medicine at Queen's University, and CEO of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization based in Kingston, Ontario. She is a medical doctor, a Professor of Family Medicine, and former Member of Parliament. Under Dr. Philpott’s leadership, Queen’s Health Sciences has introduced several innovations in health professions education, including a new campus for the MD Program focused on training family doctors, as well as an expanded educational partnership with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority.

Prior to politics, Philpott spent the first decade of her medical career in Niger, West Africa. She was a family doctor in Markham-Stouffville, Ontario for 17 years and became Chief of Family Medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital in 2008. From 2015 to 2019 she served as Canada’s Minister of Health, Minister of Indigenous Services, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government. She played a lead role in policies that shaped Canada: bringing Syrian refugees to Canada; legislating Medical Assistance in Dying; negotiating a health accord with resources for mental health and home care; improving infrastructure for First Nations to provide clean water on reserve; and reforming child welfare to reduce the over-apprehension of Indigenous children.

About Host Shelley Youngblut 

Shelley Youngblut is the CEO & Creative Ringleader of Wordfest. She was the recipient of the 2020 Calgary Award for Community Achievement in the Arts and the 2018 Rozsa Award for Arts Leadership. She also won the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Western Magazine Awards. Youngblut was the founding editor of Calgary’s award-winning Swerve magazine and has created magazines for ESPN, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Nickelodeon, Western Living, and The Globe and Mail. She was also a former pop-culture correspondent for ABC World News Now and Canada AM. Follow her on Facebook @ShelleyYoungblut and Instagram/Threads @youngblutshelley.