If you had to grade a report card on the Canadian Healthcare system what would it look like? While the focus is very much on fighting the COVID19 pandemic, what happens to all those who’ve survived but now have to deal with the long-term complications of contracting severe COVID ie “long COVID?” Is our healthcare system equipped to handle the patients? COVID also has revealed the cracks in care delivery, as well as society finding its way into communities that are traditionally marginalized and disproportionately impacted them. Dr.Smart joins us in an exclusive chat about how and why this pandemic is forcing us to rethink how to make a healthcare system that meets the needs of Canadians both now and in the future, and ideally before they end up in a hospital. She also reveals for the first time on air nationally, a hidden talent.
Dr. Katharine Smart is a pediatrician in Whitehorse, Yukon. Her work is centered on developing collaborative partnerships with community and government services to serve marginalized children using a model of social pediatrics. She works primarily with children who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood events, and she witnesses the broad and lasting impact these events have on children and their development daily. She is passionate about improving services for marginalized children in an effort to change their life trajectory.
In addition to her community-based work, Dr. Smart enjoys acute care and provides on-call services to the hospital. Before moving to the Yukon, she was a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. Dr. Smart is the past president of the Yukon Medical Association.