Is Denmark the Blueprint for Fixing Canada’s Healthcare System? — with ER Physician Dr. Brian Goldman

What does the emergency room reveal about the future of care in Canada?

In this episode of The Hart of It All, Teri Hart sits down with Dr. Brian Goldman, emergency physician, author, and longtime healthcare advocate, to talk about what Canada’s overwhelmed ERs are telling us about the deeper cracks in our healthcare system.

Drawing from his book The Casino Shift, Dr. Goldman explains how hospital overcrowding, long-term care waitlists, primary care shortages, and a lack of home care support are all connected. For caregivers, those cracks are not abstract. They show up when an aging parent waits for hours in an emergency room, when a loved one with dementia has nowhere to go, when a small-town hospital is forced to close, or when family members are sent home expected to manage medical tasks they were never trained to do.

Teri and Dr. Goldman also explore what Canada could learn from countries like Denmark, where nearly everyone has access to a family doctor and after-hours care is built into the system. They talk about the risks and realities of private healthcare, why small community hospitals matter so much, how technology and AI may change medicine, and why empathy still has a critical role in healthcare.

This conversation is for caregivers, healthcare workers, families with aging loved ones, and anyone worried about the future of healthcare in Canada. It is a clear-eyed look at a system under pressure, but also a reminder that better care is possible if we are willing to rethink how the system works.

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Resources:

Read Dr. Brian Goldman's new book, "The Casino Shift":

https://www.indigo.ca/products/the-casino-shift

https://www.amazon.ca/Casino-Shift-Stories-ER-Edge/dp/1443473588

Follow Dr. Brian Goldman:

X/Twitter: https://x.com/NightShiftMD