The Beginnings of Care Opinion Canada

The Imagine Citizens Network is proud to bring Care Opinion to Alberta. As a program of ICN, Care Opinion directly aligns with our mission to create safe spaces for people who live in Alberta to share their healthcare experiences so we can learn what is working and what can be improved in our healthcare system. The ICN team has been working since 2015 to have important conversations to shift our healthcare system to become more person-centered. 

Care Opinion Canada serves as a link between patients, healthcare providers, and organizations, fostering community-level change and collaboration. By offering insights from patients, the Care Opinion Canada program enables the healthcare system to learn and make changes to improve care and patient experiences or to give positive reinforcement to the care providers for a job well done. 

The genesis of what became the Imagine Citizens Network began when the Cumming School of Medicine invited three community groups to the table to help plan a day to bring the public into healthcare. This daylong event took place on January 22, 2015. The three community groups included:  

• A group calling themselves Citizens Impacting Health in Alberta including several individuals and professionals deeply concerned with patient safety, including Judy Birdsell, our initial Board Chair. This group had written a position paper that stated the belief that we would never have a healthcare system that worked well for people, if we didn’t develop mechanisms to include knowledge gleaned through lived experience of patients and their families - the people who this system is meant to serve. Albertans needed to be at the table. 

• Charlie Fischer, a community leader who was heavily involved with the University of Calgary and who had personal and family experience while seeking health,  

• Greg Price’s father, Dave and two sisters (Teri and Joanna). Greg had died at the age of 31 after a lengthy journey of seeking care that included gaps and miscommunication.  

Charlie Fischer was instrumental in the formation of ICN and ultimately Care Opinion Canada. Says Judy Birdsell one of the founding members of ICN, “Without his history, personality, connections and forceful speaking skills, we would not be where we are today. When Charlie spoke, people listened!”  Charlie Fischer passed away in 2020 and that led to discussions with his family about identifying a project through which to honor Charlie’s legacy and the financial contributions that individuals and organizations in Charlie’s network had contributed in his memory.   

Care Opinion is a fitting tribute to his name. It embodies that which we came together to create in 2014-2015. Become a part of the conversation about healthcare in Alberta by sharing your experience. Submit your story at Write Story | Care Opinion Canada. We look forward to hearing from you!