Dying to be Seen: The Gritty Truth Is We ALL Need To Fight for Canadian Medicare with Cathy MacNeil

As we kick off 2026, the stakes for Canadian healthcare have never been higher.

In this powerful season premiere (SEASON 7 baby!) of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with nurse, advocate, and author Cathy MacNeil to discuss her provocative and timely book, Dying to be Seen: The race to save medicare in Canada.

Far from just a collection of anecdotes, Cathy’s work is heavily evidence-informed, blending raw frontline experiences with rigorous research into the systemic structures of Canadian healthcare. As Medicare stands at a breaking point, Cathy provides the data-backed reality of why our public system is failing and what must be done to salvage it.

In this episode, we dive deep into:

The Evidence Behind the Crisis: How Dying to be Seen utilizes research and data to expose the cracks in the system.

The Erosion of Public Healthcare: A critical, evidence-based look at the current threats to Medicare and the true cost of privatization.

The Nurse's Burden: Discussing the documented rise of moral injury and systemic neglect.

A Call to Advocacy: Why everyday people and healthcare workers must use evidence-driven narratives to fight for equitable care.

This episode is a masterclass in combining clinical expertise with fierce advocacy. If you want to understand the actual state of Canadian healthcare—backed by facts—this is the conversation you’ve been waiting for.

"Public healthcare is not just a policy; it is a promise. And it's a promise backed by decades of evidence that we cannot afford to ignore." — Cathy MacNeil

More About Cathy:

​Cathy MacNeil has a degree in health administration and has held certifications in gerontology and emergency-room nursing. She has been a registered nurse since 1976. Her health care career includes medical-surgical and critical-care nursing as well as health administration that encompasses nursing supervision and management portfolios. She managed a busy city ER for six years and co-managed a long-term care facility for five years. Currently, she teaches continuing-care assistants at a career college and supervises their clinical placements within long-term care.

Cathy resides in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with Conrad, her husband of forty-seven years.

Find her here:
https://www.dyingtobeseen.ca
Linkedin:   / catherine-macneil-334255260  
Twitter: https://x.com/neil_catherine

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