Good morning. Welcome to Postcall: We give you the same feeling as when the Krispy Kreme sign is on.

And just like them glazed donuts, Postcall should be shared with friends: easy as forwarding this email!

Here’s the need-to-know for this week:

• ✊ Docs can speak truth to power (and should)

• 9-1-1 will soon have a little brother 👪️ 

• 🗡️ Are hospitals being gouged?

• Here’s your coupon book 📗 

• Tour de Nombres

• Quick bites 🍉

• 😆 Memes of the Day

Bills on Bills on Bills 💸

I think we can all agree that this year has been an emotional rollercoaster - legislation-ally, that is.

What happened: Remember the new Health Professions and Occupations Act? That thiccc Bill from last November intended to overhaul how health professions are governed in BC? (Aka the one where physicians can be fined for spreading misinformation. Yeah, that one.)

Why it's interesting: Well, now if you want to speak up about something sus, there’s a new bill for that.

As of June 1st, healthcare workers are now protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA). This means you won’t get in trouble if you speak out against things like medical errors, rude or discriminatory behaviours, and concerns about the quality of care provided to an individual patient.

Postcall’s take: It’s a big time win for both doctors and patients.

1. You no longer need to trade off the risk of hurting your career and doing the right thing.

2. Hospitals can over time bring behavioural problems to light and address them. Say bye to those hidden side effects!

This new development got us feeling like we just watched Barbie after Oppenheimer.

Details from Doctors of BC and more details

Tour de Nombres 🚴‍♀️ 

$155 million - That’s the USD that Barbie brought into the box office over the weekend. Combined with Oppenheimer’s $81M, that’ll likely make it the fourth biggest box office weekend of all time.

155 - That’s the number of years since the first Golden Retriever was bred. This past weekend, hundreds of good boys and gals 🐶 and their owners came together in its ancestral home of Guisachan House in Glen Affric to celebrate (and we have the video footage).

9-8-8 - Move over, 9-1-1. The new 9-8-8 number is Canada’s nationwide crisis hotline, connecting those in need to a trained, trauma-informed counsellor 24/7 in English or French. Before it arrives on Nov. 30, you can also use the Talk Suicide line: 1-833-456-4566, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or via text to 45645 in the evenings.

-2% - That’s the year to date return of investing in fine wines 📉. Wines were looking 🔥 during the stock market crash of 2020 (as the S&P fell 23%), but this year the S&P is up 16%. Given its stable performance during tough times, wine investors probably won’t be panicking just yet.

$24 per second for a year - If you thought Barbie made a lot of money (see above), you’ll be dancing for dollars 🤑 once you hear $776 million is the amount that the Saudi football club Al Hilal is offering Kylian Mbappe for a single year. And he might decline… it’s not all about the Benjamins, baby.

🗡️ Are we being gouged out of hospital services?

Hospitals are dropping mad stacks on private nurses, in order to stave off the impending doom of closing emergency rooms 🏥.

What happened: Ontario hospitals revealed they are paying nursing agencies more than quadruple the amount they paid back in the first year of the pandemic. At least 78 hospitals sent more than $168.3-million in public funds to for-profit nursing agencies in the first 9 months of last year, compared to only $38.1-million spent in all of 2021.

Ay, there’s the rub! A top-paid union nurse at a hospital makes ~$49 an hour, plus pension and benefits. However, the agency nurses are paid an average of $140 an hour, but some hospitals have even paid over $250 an hour (this includes the agency’s cut), so we can see how some people are about get real unhappy 😡.

Context: Private healthcare staffing agencies have been around for decades (they provide ad hoc support when folks call in sick, in emergency situations, remote areas, etc). But now, with healthcare workers leaving the public sector due to burnout and seeking better opportunities in private agencies, the agencies are raking it in at the public’s expense. Relax, guys. You’re not Kylian Mbappe.

Postcall’s take: Why not increase overtime pay for the nurses they employ? Attitudes are shifting among leaders - Québec is passing a law to ban such nursing agencies, and along with Ontario, Alberta, BC, and Atlantic provinces, is ramping up efforts to recruit more foreign-trained nurses.

Show me the Coupon Book 💰️ 

We got 3 quick coupons to save you some money (Shoutouts to Club MD for hooking it up) if you’re shopping around for 💻️ 🏎️ or 💆 :

1. If you’re in ON or QC: 3 Months FREE Internet, if you sign up for a 100 Mbps Internet for $39/mo for 12 months. (installation and modem/router included). Call 1-866-880-2092 or check out https://acanac.com/ for more details.

2. If you’re in BC: Through the month of July get up to $4000 off on all in-stock 2023 Porsche Cayenne and $1500 off on Macan models. For further details reach out to Dilawri.

3. Also if you’re in BC: Receive 25% off the best available rate at Sparkling Hills Resort and Spa in Vernon. Book online or call 1 877 275 1556 and provide promo code CLUBMD23.

🍔 Quick Bites

1: Tony Bennett, the legendary crooner, passed away at 96 last week. As a tribute, here’s his iconic Ed Sullivan Show performance.

2: 🐤 Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last year, unveiled a new "X" logo to replace the famous blue bird as part of a major rebranding effort. It’s already turning a lot of users off.

3: Air conditioners 🥶 can be a problematic solution to extreme heat because it leads to more heat, via warm air, HFC chemicals, and electricity use. Alternatives like opening windows at night, thermal curtains, plants, and cool baths should be used first according to the Lancet.

4: “Cry baby scientist”: What Oppenheimer the film gets wrong about Oppenheimer the man (Vox)

5: 4 people missing after Nova Scotia floods from massive rainfall. The province has declared a state of emergency.

Memes of the Day 😜 

Don’t be a Postcall hog 🐽 
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