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As we head into the so-called dog days of summer, here’s a little provincial history lesson sure to make you sit up and pay attention.

(Or roll over and play dead, depending on how much you like history.)

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A century ago, in the summer of 1919, Alberta became the second province in Canada behind New Brunswick to create its own standalone health ministry.

According to the Canadian Journal of Public Health, the move was precipitated by the crisis of the Spanish flu, which killed an estimated 4,000 Albertans and sickened more than 30,000.

Among the victims was the province’s first health minister, Alexander Grant MacKay, who died after less than a year in the job.

(For a province that now struggles to get 30 per cent takeup on the seasonal flu shot, you can imagine the demand from Albertans in 1919 had a flu vaccine had been available.)

One hundred years after the health ministry was established, Alberta’s health system is today arguably one of the best in the country in terms of quality and breadth of services, if not in wait times.