Beyond the Waiting Room: The Future of Unscheduled Healthcare
The Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Winnipeg invites you to attend the 2026 Laird Lecture Series, followed by a lunch and networking opportunity.
Location: 3C00 (Eckhardt-Gramatté (EG) Hall, 3rd floor of Centennial Hall)
University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
Talk Abstract:
Canada’s system of unscheduled healthcare — emergency departments, urgent care, primary care and increasingly virtual care — has become the safety net for a health system struggling with access, capacity and continuity. Emergency departments now sit at the intersection of nearly every major challenge facing Canadian healthcare: an aging population, workforce shortages, hospital crowding, diagnostic complexity, inequitable access and rising public expectations. Yet these pressures also create an extraordinary opportunity to redesign how Canadians receive care when and where they need it.
This 2026 Laird Lecture will explore what the future of unscheduled healthcare could look like — and why it may be dramatically different from the system we know today. Drawing on three decades of experience in emergency medicine, health-system leadership, evidence-based medicine, and guideline development, Dr. Eddy Lang will examine how artificial intelligence, digital health, and new care models could fundamentally change the patient’s journey.
Speaker Bio – Dr. Eddy Lang:
Dr. Eddy Lang, MDCM, CCFP(EM), FCFP, FCAHS, CCPE, is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, and a senior researcher and practicing emergency physician with Alberta Health Services. His academic work focuses on evidence-based medicine, knowledge translation, clinical practice guidelines, health services research, and improving the quality and efficiency of emergency care.
Dr. Lang has held numerous senior leadership roles in Canadian and international emergency medicine. He served for more than a decade as Academic and Clinical Department Head for Emergency Medicine in the Calgary Zone and as Scientific Director of Alberta’s Emergency Strategic Clinical Network. He has chaired national academic and leadership initiatives within the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and currently chairs the International Federation for Emergency Medicine Congress Committee. He is a long-standing member of the GRADE Working Group and has contributed to guideline development with organizations including ILCOR and the World Health Organization. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2022. Dr. Lang was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 for his significant contributions to healthcare.