Early on in her pregnancy, Darlene Hensch felt awful. She said her pregnancy symptoms were significantly worse than when she carried her daughter.

“I started feeling really sick right away, just nauseous all the time and just really exaggerated pregnancy symptoms,” she said.

She’s now six months pregnant with quadruplets: three boys and one girl. When she found out, she was in shock.

“I didn’t know how to handle it,” Hensch said.

Hensch is from Westlock County and travels a couple of times a month to Edmonton to visit a high-risk pregnancy clinic.

She will deliver at the Royal Alexandra Hospital when she is 32 to 34 weeks pregnant via C-section with a high-risk team on standby.

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Hensch also has a three-year-old daughter, but her story is significantly different than that of her soon-to-be siblings.

Her parents tried to conceive for eight years, going through multiple rounds of fertility treatment.

“It was a really long road,” she said. “I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility, and a low ovarian reserve.

She calls the quadruplets’ conception a miracle.

“When I was going through the fertility clinic they did give a medication that helps you ovulate. I tried that multiple months. It was never successful,” she said, speaking about when she had her daughter.

“This time I tried again and it worked way too well.”

Hensch won’t be alone in her journey. Early in her pregnancy she got in touch with the Edmonton Twin and Triplet club, who connected her with Tara Watson.

Watson and her husband welcomed their quadruplets in 2024.

2:12 Oh baby! Edmonton couple to become 6th set of Alberta parents to welcome quadruplets

“We don’t have a huge community of women who have quadruplets in Canada,” Watson said.

“I was excited to have someone nearby because you can’t just get up and go travel to the States every time you wanna go talk to another quad mom.”

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Watson has been able to find a community of moms online who have quadruplets.

It’s been a way to get support and advice from those who truly understand. Now, she hopes to be a part of that support system for Hensch, as she prepares to become a mom of five.

“Having higher order multiples is very different than having many kids,” Watson said.

“It’s such an amazing club to be part of and I’m just really looking for her to experience that magic and holding them all for the first time and, yeah, she’s in for a really special, special journey.”

1:58 Meet Sydney, Kenna, Theo and Max: Edmonton’s Watson quadruplets mark 1st month of life

“She didn’t hide anything,” Hensch said of the first conversation she had with Waston.

The number one piece of advice for Hensch that Watson offered was to accept help, even when it’s difficult to ask for it.

“Whether that looks like, grocery drop-offs, meal drop-off, diaper drop-offs, or picking up a baby, changing diapers, doing laundry, all of the things — she’s going to need the help,” Watson said.

In the meantime, Hensch is preparing for her entire life to change in a few months.

“I just feel like it’s going to change me as a person, for sure,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to be who I was before this, I need to be somebody else entirely.”

2:11 Edmonton quadruplets celebrate 1st birthday with their ‘village’

As of Dec. 2, the Public Health Agency of Canada says there are now 155 lab-confirmed cases of salmonella infections across six provinces, with the majority found in Ontario and Quebec.

Other infections have been confirmed in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick.

The illness has impacted people from one to 95, with 70 per cent of cases among women and a total of 24 people hospitalized.

“We’re looking at quite a lot of illness associated with this event,” said April Hexemer, director of the outbreak management division at PHAC. “It is a concerning event and that is why we’ve issued this new advice. We’re trying very hard to control it and to put an end to it.”

0:41 Iranian pistachios recalled due to salmonella risk, CFIA confirms

The number of illnesses is an increase from PHAC’s last report on Oct. 21, when there were 117 cases confirmed and 17 hospitalizations.

According to PHAC, people became sick between early March and as recently as mid-November 2025.

The agency said many people who became sick reported eating pistachios, and products containing pistachios.

The various strains of salmonella in the outbreak were found in samples of recalled pistachios and samples of recalled Dubai-style chocolate.

“It does appear a little bit niche, but the thing is when we’re out and about picking up a little snack, and you might be drawn to a baked item that has pistachios on top of it, there’s no way to tell where those pistachios came from,” she said. “We just really don’t know how much pistachios from Iran we’re routinely consuming.”

The recalls are part of an ongoing food safety investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that started with the Habibi brand of pistachio kernel on July 24.

The CFIA confirmed to Global News last week that the pistachios involved in the current recalls were imported from Iran, though did not say if it was from a specific crop.

At the end of September, as a result of its investigation, the CFIA announced it would implement a temporary restriction of imports of pistachios and pistachio-containing products from Iran as a precautionary measure.

On Tuesday, the agency announced further measures, making it mandatory for all federally-licenced importers and manufacturers that have Iranian pistachios that were imported prior to Sept. 27, to hold and test them for salmonella before they can be sold in Canada.

The new measures include any products made with pistachios from Iran that are not already recalled.

2:26 Health Matters: CFIA expands pistachio recall

Hexemer told Global News that the agency recognizes that it can be “really difficult” to identify where pistachios are from because they may be purchased in bulk or repackaged throughout the distribution chain.

“We’ve defaulted to this advice where if the country of origin can be confirmed to not be Iran, it’s not affected and not part of this outbreak or set of recalls,” she said. “If the country of origin is unknown, you can’t identify it, or you do know it to be Iran through the label, we’re asking people to avoid those products to to prevent the risk of a salmonella infection.”

She also said people should be cautious as cross-contamination is possible should they have a contaminated product in the kitchen or even your lunch bag.

This includes cooking, with Hexemer cautioning people against using the recalled in cooking as she said it’s not always possible to kill salmonella in pistachios through baking or cooking.

Multiple recalls have occurred for the products in just the past month with 151 listed between Nov. 12 and Dec. 2. In fact, between Nov. 25 and Tuesday, 65 products were recalled.

The products recalled in the past month were distributed to all provincess except Prince Edward Island, according to the CFIA, with some products also sold online. None of the territories were listed.

Some products recalled over the past several months have dated back to those sold in October 2024.

The CFIA noted in its investigation that pistachios have a long shelf life and may remain on the market for many months.

0:41 Canada recalls more pistachio products due to salmonella contamination threat

Canadians are asked to check if they have a recalled product, throw it out or return it if so, and to contact their health-care provider if they think they became sick consuming one.

Those who sell pistachio and products that contain them are advised to also check if they have any of the recalled products and to ensure they do not serve, sell or distribute them.

While food contaminated with salmonella may not look or smell spoiled, it can make you sick, with symptoms ranging from fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

It can take more than a month from the time someone gets sick, sees a doctor, gets tested, and has their results confirmed and PHAC says the illness reporting period for this outbreak is between 12 and 99 days after illness onset.

PHAC says researchers estimate for each case of salmonella reported to public health, there are 26 more cases that are not reported.

Negotiations that could have led to coverage of weight-loss drug Wegovy under Canadian public health plans are not moving forward.

Novo Nordisk, the Denmark-based parent company of Wegovy, had been approached about talks to bring down the cost of the medication by securing coverage under Canada’s public health system.

Canada’s Drug Agency, a non-profit that looks at the cost-effectiveness of different medications, asked the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which negotiates prices for drugs on behalf of provincial, territorial and federal governments, to talk with Novo Nordisk.

0:47 Trump announces deal to reduce prices of weight-loss drugs

According to the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance on its website, those negotiations have “concluded without agreement (manufacturer declined negotiation).”

Canada’s Drug Agency said in its July recommendation that Wegovy at its list price is expected to cost $5,066 per patient per year based on the recommended maintenance dose for weight management being 2.4 mg weekly — roughly $400 per month.

Global News reached out to Novo Nordisk for comment.

“Canada’s Drug Agency has recommended Wegovy, but public reimbursement isn’t being pursued at this time,” said a spokesperson at Novo Nordisk.

“Our commitment remains to provide Canadians with sustainable access to obesity medications, including future innovations.”

In a statement sent to Global News, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance said its request for negotiation sent in October “was declined by Novo Nordisk without any offers being exchanged and the file has now been closed.”

“We remain ready and available to re-engage this file should they change their mind. To do this, Novo Nordisk can submit an unsolicited offer, which we would welcome. ”

Canada’s Drug Agency recommended that Wegovy, part of the semaglutide group of medications, be available for public reimbursement, provided certain conditions are met for “chronic weight management.”

According to the recommendations, patients eligible for the proposed coverage would have a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kilograms per square metre or greater and have a pre-existing cardiovascular disease. These may include conditions characterized by narrowed arteries leading to reduced blood flow to the heart, brain, or arms or legs.

In order to qualify for the proposed reimbursement of Wegovy, Canada’s Drug Agency had said this should only apply if a patient is also on a reduced-calorie diet, has increased physical activity for chronic weight management, and the cost of Wegovy is reduced.

0:57 Zepbound vs. Wegovy: Which weight-loss medication comes out on top?

Canada’s Drug Agency also says, based on its assessments of health economic evidence, “Wegovy does not represent good value to the health-care system at the public list price. A price reduction is therefore required.”

Based on the current list price and expectations for demand in Canada, the CDA says Wegovy could cost public drug plans as much as $600 million over the next three years. It adds that this cost could skyrocket to $3.5 billion depending on uptake.

Ian Patton, director of advocacy and public engagement at Obesity Canada, says weight-loss drugs like Wegovy are “not a magic bullet,” and that they won’t solve everything for everyone, but “they are still effective for a lot of people.”

“For the people that they are helpful for, they can be life-changing, but they are expensive and for the vast majority of people, just not accessible unless we have coverage,” says Patton.

“When we have instances like this where a negotiation is broken off, it just means that Canadians will not have improved access to those treatments for a longer period of time.”

Patton added that semaglutide medications, including Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepound, are approved for use in Canada under certain conditions, but the reimbursement under public health plans is what remains an ongoing issue for patients in need.

Patton also says he’s hopeful generic options could be on the way for Canadians soon that may offer more value.

In the United States, President Donald Trump unveiled a deal earlier in November to slash the prices of some of these treatments in the U.S. through the Medicare and Medicaid programs for qualifying patients.

“I think it’s politically dishonest,” he said in an interview.

Davies was involved in the negotiations that brought forward the Pharmacare Act last year.

The law, which passed just over a year ago, was a key part of the supply-and-confidence deal between the NDP and Liberals under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

It required the government to set up a committee of experts to recommend the best way to create a universal, single-payer pharmacare system.

That committee reported to Health Minister Marjorie Michel in October and its report was made public last month.

The report called on Ottawa to fully fund a list of essential medications that would cover more than 90 per cent of prescriptions in Canada, and set up an independent body to manage that list. The system would allow individuals to get their prescriptions at no cost using their health card.

The expert committee said the proposed model would avoid the pitfalls of working through lengthy negotiations on bilateral funding deals with the provinces and territories.

It also called on the government to pass legislation outlining details of the pharmacare policy and enshrining in law that Canadians have a right to essential medicines.

2:17 Health Matters: Federal government commits to more pharmacare deals

When asked if the government is planning to work toward that, Michel told reporters her government is reviewing the recommendations but made no commitment to act.

“As you know, we have a lot of independent expert panels and they have their views, but it is non-binding for the government,” she said on Nov. 24.

Michel also disagreed with the argument that Ottawa should go ahead without bilateral deals, saying her role was to negotiate with provinces and territories.

“It’s almost like they’ve rejected the report before they’ve even studied it,” Davies said.

Members of the expert advisory committee met with Davies and other stakeholders in Ottawa last week.

They said they have been unable to secure a meeting with the health minister, although they requested one shortly after submitting their report. Michel’s office said it received no formal request for a meeting last week but did not explain why the minister hasn’t asked to meet with the committee.

No one from the federal cabinet has met with the committee since its report was released.

“I think what we’ve heard right now from this government is prioritization of other issues,” Dr. Nav Persaud, the expert committee chair and a doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, told a press conference on Parliament Hill on Friday.

He argued pharmacare is more important than ever due to the trade war with the United States — which could cause more Canadians to lose their jobs and insurance benefits and could drive up the cost of pharmaceuticals through threatened tariffs.

Committee member Amy Lamb, executive director of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada, said the report “describes a nation-building investment purposely constructed from Canadian-made principles.”

Davies said the government needs to honour the Pharmacare Act and finalize work on the first phase of the program.

The law says Ottawa will negotiate agreements with provinces and territories to fund the cost of contraceptives and some diabetes medications.

Only four deals have been signed to date — with B.C., Manitoba, P.E.I. and Yukon — and for several months over the summer it was not clear if the Liberals planned to sign the remaining deals.

5:57 What Pharmacare expansion means for Canadians

Health care advocates have criticized the resulting patchwork system, saying it’s unfair that people in some parts of the country have coverage while others do not.

“They continue to try to hoodwink Canadians into thinking they’re in favour of making sure every Canadian can get the medication they need with their public health care system, or card,” Davies said.

“But whenever it comes to advancing that, they balk.”

The government has been sending mixed messages on pharmacare since Prime Minister Mark Carney took over.

In their election platform and on the campaign trail, the Liberals pledged to “protect” programs like dental care and pharmacare — both of which were products of the NDP’s deal to prop up the Trudeau minority government.

In September, Carney said the government made “clear commitments” on pharmacare and that the remaining deals would be finalized “as quickly and as equitably as possible.” He did not commit to expanding to a national program.

His government’s first budget in early November included no new funding for pharmacare. The $1.5 billion set aside in the 2024 budget was meant to cover the first phase, but more than 60 per cent of that money is already committed to the four existing deals.

The committee’s report estimates the cost of funding an essential medicines list at between $6 and $10 billion a year, but said it anticipates savings from competitive drug purchasing processes and from existing coverage that would put the added cost at around $3 billion a year.

The number of vacancies for nurses and personal support workers in Canada has tripled between 2016 and 2024, a new report by Statistics Canada found, with the vacancies in remote areas twice as high.

From 2016 to 2024, the vacancy rate (the proportion of all vacant positions) for health-related occupations nearly tripled, increasing from 2.1 per cent to 5.8 per cent, the report said.

Vacancies for nurses and personal support workers were the highest among health-care workers, with the vacancy rate for licensed practical nurses at 12.8 per cent.

While most vacancies were in larger urban centres that the report described as more accessible, vacancy rates for these occupations were nearly twice as high in remote regions (9.3 per cent) compared with accessible regions (5.5 per cent).

1:56 $272 million healthcare administrative system should be scrapped, says union

Remote regions were also more likely to have long-term vacancies of 90 days or more. More than six out of 10 vacancies for registered nurses (61.8 per cent) and licensed practical nurses (62.3 per cent) in remote regions were long-duration vacancies in 2024.

This is despite the fact that the hourly wage for registered nursing vacancies in remote regions ($37.49) was slightly higher than the corresponding hourly wage offered in urban regions ($35.66).

Similarly, the average offered hourly wage for licensed practical nurses in remote regions ($31.53) was higher than in accessible regions ($29.59).

On the other hand, the offered hourly wages for personal support workers were on average slightly lower in remote regions ($22.63) compared with accessible regions ($23.91), the report said.

2:02 ‘Workers are at a breaking point:’ Sask. healthcare worker unions say

While the Statistics Canada report didn’t look at vacancies for physician roles, a separate report released on Tuesday suggested the number of doctors has risen faster than population growth.

The number of doctors in Canada has nearly tripled (a 195 per cent increase) since the 1970s, a new report by the Generation Squeeze Lab at the University of British Columbia called ‘The Doctor Shortage Myth’ said on Tuesday.

Not only has the number of doctors gone up significantly, but it has also far outpaced general population growth in Canada at 76 per cent, the report said, citing data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In 1976, Canada had 33,727 physicians, or 144 physicians per 100,000 residents, the report said.

2:39 ‘Population is starving’: Canadian doctor shares realities of working in Gaza amid Israel-Hamas war

In 2024, this number was up to 99,555, or 241 physicians per 100,000 residents.

Despite the number of doctors growing over the last few decades, access to health care feels worse for many Canadians, said Paul Kershaw, UBC professor and lead author of the report.

“The issue isn’t the number of doctors — it’s the surge in demand driven by population aging, combined with the fact that governments didn’t collect enough revenue from boomers when they were younger,” Kershaw said.

Retirees use roughly four times more medical care than adults under the age of 50, the report said.

“As millions of boomers entered high-demand age groups, the effective patient-load increased dramatically – although not nearly as fast as the number of doctors increased,” it added.

The growth in the number of physicians has even outpaced the rise in age-adjusted medical demand, which has grown by 135 per cent since the 1970s.

1:58 Saskatchewan health care workers rally for wage increases

Doctors are also working fewer hours than they did in the 1970s, the report found.

While physician headcount is up, total physician hours have grown slowly.

“Imagine a concert where organizers triple the number of ticket booths, but each booth is open fewer hours than it used to be. That’s Canada’s medical care system,” Kershaw said.

“We’ve added doctors faster than age-adjusted demand has grown, but physicians aren’t working the same number of hours they once did,” he added.

According to the Canadian Medical Association, doctors in Canada work 20 per cent more hours than the average Canadian. The average family doctor works 52 hours per week, while the average specialist works 53 hours per week and the average surgeon works 62 hours per week.

Of those average weekly hours, roughly 15 are spent on administrative work and other tasks.

More than half of doctors in Canada reported burnout, and nearly half said they planned to cut back on their hours when surveyed by the Canadian Medical Association in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.