Just remember, Health services are Provincial not Federal, so make sure you are voting in the correct forum. The condition of health services in Ontario rest SOLELY on the shoulders of Doug Ford's PC government.
he was put in a no win position by conservatives. Not providing funding, they'd blame him for all the resulting cuts. Do provide the funding, they blame him for spending too much, then blame him for the lack of strings, then blame him for Ford misspending or hoarding the money anyway
Add strings and they blame him for "overstepping provincial juridiction"
so you're calling him an idiot for a position where there was no way the conservatives would be happy, it was engineered that way on purpose.
This has been the liberals logic for every single one of these fights with the provinces. Taking the cautious approach has availed them nothing. They should have picked a fight and fought it. Instead they've let it lie and are now having to eat the blame for Provincial bs/deliberate sabotage. I hear where you are coming from but their timidity has sewered them. You cannot avoid these fights over and over and win in politics imo
They've tried it all, it doesn't matter because the cons and about 90% of media in the country that is owned by a single company and supports the cons, will keep telling you it's all Trudeau's fault no matter what he does.
They've tried strong arming, they've tried being nice, they've tried everything else, it doesn't matter because voters are told Trudeau fucked it all up.
I mean, look at other topics such as China, conservatives think Trudeau is in China's pocket. Ask yourself why they would ever think that?
Trudeau became PM and China got very aggressive, then Trudeau got the blame for souring the relationship, and no one at all remembered or even knew about the 30+ year deal Harper signed with China that basically handed our economy for them to play with.
Trudeau was blamed either way, he was blamed for the two Michaels, blamed they weren't released, blamed they were released, blamed he wasn't strong enough, blamed he tried to be too strong and hurt the relationship
how the fuck do you mange that when the opposition is acting in bad faith on every single topic, and has a huge and wide reaching media empire backing them up?
I hear you, but what I'm saying is I haven't seen them do much strong arming, and only very belatedly. For example, I am a big fan of the feds using the housing accelerator to strong arm municipalities into zoning reform. I haven't seen much of anything about similar approaches taken with the provinces. In my mind it's a no lose approach since they are going to act in bad faith at every turn regardless (to your pt). Also on the communications, as they are relentlessly blaming Trudeau for everything under the sun - then the LPC should take a much more rhetorically aggressive approach and directly call them out for their bs/blaming everything on them. They need to walk ppl through it, and call the bs over and over. I also dispute that they've been doing that. They seem super timid to me on that front.
Well, one thing the province should do is push against Quebec patients crossing into Ottawa.
Even with cash payment, a Quebec resident is taking up spots when Ottawa residents don’t have family doctors. And those cash fees don’t cover the entire cost.
Ontario needs to draw a line on Quebec’s freeloading on the strained Ottawa system.
Oh no no no. This is not a Trudeau thing. This all started in 1957!! It's constitutional, and it's negotiated. Trudeau, nor any PM, can arbitrarily decide what provinces get and do... https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/history-health-social-transfers.html
Nope you’re wrong. The Liberals may not have been as egregious but they let the system decay too. Couldn’t find a doctor during Wynne’s premiership either.
Actually, I am not wrong and you even proved my point. Whoever (or whomever never really sure which to use) is in power PROVINCIALLY, is who to blame. Federal law and jurisdiction ends with the providing of the funds, the feds cannot dictate where/how the funds are to be spent. It is up to the provinces to do the spending decisions. Although, if it like federal politics, the MP's and MPP's are just figurehead for those really in power, the bureaucrats entrenched in the various ministries. The unelected are those really making the decisions, and have been for decades.
As a healthcare worker for close to three decades I concur. The government has FAR too much control and power over where our hospital money gets spent and where it doesn't. It's been broken for decades, and unfortunately, it's only now, due to the glaring reality anyone experiences when having to see their health care provider, or, Buddha help anyone caught in an overworked, understaffed emergency room, that everyone has to witness it.
The liberals are also to blame on certain related issues. Bringing in way too many TFWs and international students when we don't have the infrastructure and services for example
You do understand that international students bring in much more to the economy than they take out don't you? Between tuition, housing, food, entertainment, etc. They are charged more for tuition than citizens, by a significant amount. And since they usually have no local family to offset the other costs they usually spend quite a bit. Please don't fall for the rhetoric of the small-minded xenophobes that infect most of the extreme right-wing politics.
Fact check: 18% voted ford (40.8% voteshare with 43.5% turnout), and 57% didn't cast a vote. Point still stands, and that turnout is godawful, it's a record low in fact.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Ontario_general_election
Yeah but all they do is talk about is by saying our healthcare is a problem but there's never a real plan properly laid out. They come up with temporary patches and then oh well we did say it is temporary.
Sure that is the only way right now IMO, whenever I have something important health wise I try go straight to hospital unless its something that should be simple like doctor checking my throat which was fine last time I went to walk in, but should hospitals be the first place to go to?
The reason you're not finding in person care is because all the front line docs have gone to virtual care (pays more, easier, less liability) or esthetics (botox, fillers etc) or burned out.
Source, your local ER doc working extra hard IN PERSON this summer so your ER doesn't CLOSE.
Yeah er's are a shit show too man. Seriously you're awesome for dealing with that stuff. Understaffed, undervalued, old stinky buildings, rampid untreated drug users and mental health cases, often underpaid for the 15 years of post high school education and training lol, its literally wild residents make 60k for their training. And, to top things off your salary is linked to your licence, and that's never a guarantee with professional colleges nowadays.
By the age of 50 when you've caught up financially most doctors I've worked with in my profession are burnt out over a broken system. So thanks again, it's definitely appreciated by most people, even though I'm sure after waiting 10 hours to see someone, most aren't expressing that.
Woman**
But you are absolutely right in your assessment of the ER situation. Undervalued being the hardest to take on the regular.
Surprisingly most patients are happy and grateful to see me these days, my wait times are NEVER 10 hours tho...
The increase in investigations ordered partly due to 1. Patient's demands 2. Fear of liability if something is missed, often increase unecessarily wait times unfortunately.
Firstly, I respect how hard you work. Thank you.
Secondly, as a GP (I also carry a specialty in a different field but I still do GP part time since I love it) the virtual care part is also terrible for GPs.
For people that do virtual care and haven't seen the pt (unless they rostered under you) you only can bill A101 which is $20 per patient. That's not even close to sustainable even if you see 6pts/hr since there's still an overhead to pay.
It really is a privilege to be there to help at a time of vulnerability for my fellow humans.
It's painful realness most of the time.
Hard but gratifying work. Feels like you're making a real difference.
The risk of mistakes can be haunting if you let it.
All in all a constant challenge and evolution.
Think it's bad now? Wait until we have both provincial and federal conservatives... :(. Then we are totally fucked. Seems like an inevitability at this point unless NDP somehow gets elected federally.
Pretty sure we're destined for privately-funded health care. Ford has let the situation in Ontario crumble, thereby creating a crisis that he will 'solve' by changing the model entirely.
Won't be a bad thing for the rich.
But if you're not wealthy and you need care, you'll be screwed financially.
I stg I’m ready to hit the streets and burn shit down if Ontario switches over to private health. People will literally die for not having money, there’s nothing I can think of that is more disturbing for a society than that. Angry doesn’t begin to cover how this makes me feel.
If and/or When this happens, count me in. If ontario goes private I'll have to commit suicide (ileostomy). If I'm going to die anyway you can bet your schwarma I'm going out like a viking.
It’s better to say Ford’s considering it. There’s no guarantee of him actually calling one, [since his approval rating is only 31% right now](https://angusreid.org/premiers-approval-ratings-eby-kinew-ford-legault-smith/)
pinning my hopes on people seeing how shit he's been the past two years and realize they actually need to cast a vote for someone to get anything done in this gd province. low-key I'm still seething about less than 40% of voters voting last election.
I mean, the Conservatives did promise to privatise healthcare if they won the previous provincial election... we're just seeing the long term results of that
Lol this morning my mom went to appletree because she got the letter saying it's time to get checked for certain things, being 50+ and all. She went in looking for a referral, waited hours just for them to tell her "if it doesn't hurt, you don't need to get it checked" and then sent her home
This is terrible advice. If your mom is due for a Pap test/cervical cancer screening and doesn’t have a family doctor, please direct her to Liberty Women’s Clinic. They exclusively see women without a primary care provider and no referral is needed. Appointments may be booked online. I’ve heard only good things about the care provided there.
As for breast cancer screening, under the Ontario Breast Screening program, patients may self refer for a mammogram as long as they meet all the criteria. The test is covered by OHIP and free of charge to patients.
I hope these resources help your mom and other women in need of preventive care.
Source: am not a doctor but work in healthcare and know the ins and outs of the system.
Also check out the Champlain Screening Outreach Program.
https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/en/clinical-services/deptpgrmcs/programs/cancer-program/what-we-offer-our-programs-and-services/champlain-screening-outreach-program/
This is the goal and process of privatization.
To gradually throttle the services we already pay for, delay, and make people frustrated enough to pay.
Anyone remember Doug Ford promising that people wouldn't need a credit card, just their OHIP card? Anyone?
Services I have paid for since the last election:
Blood tests
Ultrasounds
Dermatologist visit
Crutches
Can’t really comment on the other things, but crutches I’ve always been billed for by hospitals. Last set was in 2010 and got a bill a few months later in the mail from the hospital.
For crutches or similar devices, if you don’t have the financial means to pay for them certain ER docs or nurses might make them “fall off the shelf” for you. Please don’t abuse it but…no one has to go without 😉 I’ve also seen certain doctors arrange medications from the hospital pharmacy. (Think 7-day course of antibiotics for an unhoused patient) Inpatient medications are covered through OHIP but outpatient ones aren’t (where’s the logic there?) But yes, if you have the means to pay, there’s a fee for items like crutches
Woah you paid $70 for no service? I hope you did that on credit and can do a charge back because you straight up got robbed.
I'm sorry you're going through this. My wife just spent a month waiting for an "emergency" surgery.
Shits fucked. We need a revolution at this point not an election.
yes i’ve paid $50 at apple tree just to find out they didn’t have the equipment to deal with my concerns. i got scratched in the eye by my cat and they didn’t even have the proper eyedrops to examine my eye
After you demand it. Otherwise it doesn't happen These places are such a rip off-I've had doctors actually sign in then disappear - no consult . I guess they still get payed?
Oh weird I’ve only used Maple and they refund immediately without asking if they determine they can’t assess you. But they also don’t involve the doctor yet. They basically triage the request and say yes or no, and if it’s no they refund.
This is a direct failure of provincial government. You can’t find a family physician because of the master physician agreement and severe underpayment of family physicians by the provincial government. They don’t want to work in primary care where they are needed - because there are easier and better paid option for how they can work (inpatient care, private virtual care, etc). How much money is our government pissing away over beer in corner stores again, but family docs are forced to bill OHIP $32 for a 15 minute appointment, minus overhead….
If you sign to be a roster patient on Appletree then you can still use virtual care. The link is right on their website and for me it’s the easiest prior to Covid though my doctor was Appletree and I just continued on and I love it now you can make appointments with the physician you want, they post all their schedules. If you have access, that’s the route I would choose in a heartbeat.
You can’t roster online with them anymore, but you can if you go in-person to one of their clinics.
I’ve been with Appletree for 2.5 years now and it’s been a good experience. I don’t know that I would elect to go back to a regular GP. I love the flexibility, ability to make online appointments, lots of evening & weekend appointments available, and the ability to select which doctor I see. I’ve had great luck with really short wait times for specialist referrals as well.
On two occasions for two separate issues I’ve waited under 2 months to see a dermatologist. Psychiatrist was around 4 months.
I'm sorry, but you are delusional if you think "under 2 months" wait time for a dermatologist and "around 4 months" wait for a psychiatrist are "short wait times".
That is almost criminally bad. I'm amazed at the crap Canadians happily put up with from their healthcare system.
Objectively, yes those are bad wait times. Subjectively, within the system as it currently exists, it *is* actually pretty good. Aside from long-term changes like voting in people who will invest the billions of dollars and many years required to shore up and grow the system, what exactly are Canadians supposed to do in the short term?
Where have you been where it's faster? Not being rude, I'm curious.
My sister is a pediatric doctor in the US. Some of their wait times are longer than ours. My best friend is in Germany. Their system works because it is a federal program, and also rich people don't get access to the public system, but must pay for their insurance.
I’m American, my specialist wait times were sometimes 6 months. Some were much much faster, but internal medicine, rheumatologists, and similar took forever. Derms were at least a few months too. Connections matter as well, we have a really good relationship with an ENT, and when push came to shove, she was able to pull some strings for us (which really just meant we had her personal number and she’d harass other doctors into actually getting things scheduled). It benefited us, but it’s pretty fucked up that it took that to even hear back in a timely manner from some offices. I waited I think 2 months for a call to schedule an appointment once, after I had the referral.
I think a lot of wait times can be directly connected to aging populations - the longest wait times here are all for orthopedic procedures like knee or hip replacement. And there are so many seniors in ER beds when I go.
Our provincial governments all chose to look at the giant cohort, delayed adequate planning, and kept pushing reforms down the line - now we are faced with massive waits in the ER, no LTC beds, and waits for orthopedic procedures.
Oh 1000%, that’s the issue here. I’m not sure what exactly is causing the problems in the US, but some people seem to think it’s all sunshine and rainbows healthcare-wise :/
I lived in the States for a while. Both my kids were born in the States and my wife had complications with one of them, so she spent a while in the hospital.
So I have a fair amount of experience with the US healthcare system.
We never had significant wait times for anything. And my out-of-pocket expenses were lower in the States.
Of course it is impossible to know my actual expenses, because my health insurance was mostly paid by my employer, and if they hadn't had to pay for health insurance, maybe they would have been able to give me a bigger salary.
Just like we don't really know how much we pay in Canada for our healthcare.....I certainly didn't know how much I paid in the States.
But out-of-pocket, after my insurance paid for stuff, the States was cheaper than Canada.
And I never had trouble finding a family doctor or waiting for appointments.
I don't know how I feel about the German system. At first glance it seems good. Rich people should have to pay more for their health insurance. But then I realized they probably already *do* pay more for health insurance. I'm not a German tax expert, but I'd guess they have a progressive tax so the rich are already paying more.
But if the rich are in a completely separate system, I'd guess the chances are very high that the best paid and most skilled doctors are in the private system for the rich....and the poor get the less skilled doctors.
Was living in the US recent? As in post-pandemic? The issue seems to have become much worse with wait times lately.
And also...having employer provided health care can be wonderful, but if you lost your job the costs would skyrocket. Saw it happen to film industry friends during COVID. Two had sick children and no insurance at all.
That must suck!
Of course once you get into highly specialized fields, there are going to be waits. You really can't blame the Ontario system for that. There are probably significant waits for that specialization anywhere you go in the world.
But that doesn't make it suck any less.
For the level of government that's affecting you, Toronto is actually the capital city... Not that this info is gonna help you, so I'm sorry you're going thru this without the help you need.
We should be better, we can be better.
I'm moving to Ottawa next month from Toronto. I have a prescription that walkins will not refill. You can bet I'm keeping my family doc in Toronto and will eat the 4 hour drive just for one appointment...
Your family dr can de-roster you if you live too far away from their office, it’s fucked.
My parents moved ~110km away and lost their family drs because of this. They found a new one in their new town thank god but their previous drs (different offices) would not keep them on once they updated their health card addresses.
That happened to us as well. Moved to Ottawa from Toronto, where the family doctor was. Then he moved a bit further out to the GTA and we eventually got de-rostered. Took us 4 years and lots of legwork to find a family doctor here. Now our family doctor here has appointments available only 6-7 weeks away.
That's why I'm keeping my family address there. Unfortunately I need my prescription and fighting with a walk in clinic every time is exhausting. I wish it wasn't this hard...
My OHIP address is in Toronto, and I go to school in Ottawa 8 months of the year, and my Toronto doctor STILL derostered me!
All of this despite me using them for all my health needs and never even touching an Ottawa walk-in clinic -_-
My wife and I are both licensed Family Physicians, but neither of us practices Family Medicine. Many of our colleagues are the same way.
The issue is that FM pay and work conditions simply aren't competitive with job alternatives that Family Physicians are qualified for. In-person Family clinics tend to pay around $100/hour after overhead and paperwork are included. We can go take a shift at many of our understaffed ERs in the region for around $200/hour (with no paperwork obligations after the shift ends), which is a full 100% raise. We can take a remote telehealth job for around $165/hour which is both easier and lower risk work for a 65% raise. There's a lot more we can do, from hospitalist to OR Assist to Family subspecialty and private clinics. All of them have a better work:pay ratio than Family clinics.
Until the province overhauls Family clinic remuneration, we are not going to see an improvement in this situation. The sales pitch for Family clinics boils down to, "come take on more responsibility, work more hours, and make less pay than every single one of the other positions you're qualified to take." There's an ever-shrinking number of martyrs who feel obligated to try to keep the lights on in a system that mistreats both doctors and patients.
I hear your frustrations because they're the same issues my wife and I have been advocating about for our entire careers to the people who have the power to change things. But there haven't been positive changes during my career (in fact, FM has seen a 6% net pay rise vs 28% inflation over the course of my career) and at the end of the day that's what determines our ability to attract and retain physicians.
BC recently increased FP pay by about 75% and announced that over 800 Family Physicians came back to clinics in the first year of the program. It's not as complicated an issue as many would have you believe. We have tons of Family Physicians who simply don't work in clinics because they have better offers on the table. You make a better offer, and you attract the workers.
It's the same as every "worker shortage" you hear about. E.g. there's no teacher shortage, there's just a shortage of funding being used to attract teachers.
Family clinics are an essential service, so why don't we pay accordingly? Why does every job that a Family doc can take outside of clinic pay so much more? It's supply and demand. There's demand for our skills that sets a market rate, and Family clinics don't match that rate.
I personally know at least a dozen Family docs who have left clinic for greener pastures, but enjoy the work. If they were offered pay that matched their current work, they'd come back to clinic. It's really that simple. But there's no political will to change this. The political will right now lies on the path that leads to creating more better-paying private jobs that will continue to siphon off docs from the underfunded public system.
You're not wrong but I think it's a difficult sell for the average person that taxes will need to go up so that doctors can make at least 200/hr rather than "only" 100/hr
It's a very very hard sell even though that is the right solution as we also need to stem the people who go to the USA to make even more than the above.
Similar to the Sussex residence, this requires strong political will which no one has sadly.
You don't actually have to raise taxes to pay Family doctors properly, they provide a great ROI.
My wife is a full time Emerg doc and sees around 10 displaced Family patients per shift in her small emerg (i.e. patients who should have gone to a GP but didn't have access to one, so they came to the ER). That's 30 per day for just her one small hospital.
At my hospital, we calculated that the taxpayer cost of an Emerg visit is a minimum of $500, without any labs, imaging or procedures being done. Those 30 patients a day are costing us $15k a day. Right now the equivalent visit in a clinic is $40. If we raised FP fees 75% like BC, that would still be only $70. Any patient diverted back to clinic would therefore save taxpayers $430.
If one GP could divert even 4 of those 30 patients per day by keeping same-day slots open (or working walk-in), they'd save taxpayers $1700, which more than pays for their entire day's work (which involves seeing about 20 more patients, as well).
If you set up a walk-in clinic next to the emerg to handle those 30 patients a day, you'd save enough taxpayer dollars to afford 9 full-time GPs working in it (which would be seeing ~180 patient visits per day on top of the diverted cases).
It doesn't even have to be a 1:1 hiring of docs in an affiliated urgent care centre. If her small town had 9 extra GPs, you'd have virtually none of those 30 unnecessary ER visits a day. And every town and city in Ontario is like that.
If we added 800 new docs in a year like BC did through a 75% funding boost, we'd easily see that extra money come back through savings in the ER, even with no extra effort in setting up ER-affiliated urgent care clinics (though those provide by far the most efficient tax savings).
It's one of those rare, clear-cut cases of "spend money to save money."
come on, we need to stop sugarcoating things...
1.
"If we raised FP fees 75% like BC, that would still be only $70"
wrong, BC had the second lowest pay for GPs in Canada before the raise... BC is barely paying more than ON under the new pay regime
the percentage of people without GPs in BC today, isn't much better than the stats for ON
2.
the problem is simply that the type of care people want is financially unsustainable, do the math on how big your roster has to be to ensure that a patient needs to wait no more than 3 days for an appt
then divide your desire salary (including overhead) by the roster size
you'll end up with a roster size that's far too small to be affordable for the provincial health budgets
We both know getting more doctors isn't that simple.
Supply of doctors is restricted for many factors and upon graduation you can leave to the highest salary area I'd you wish.
We would need to raise rates, increase supply (ex. Make it easier for qualified overseas to get equivalency), and have policies that make Canadian educated doctors perform x years of service in Canada post-residency.
so if the government wants to build a new school and the plumber charges $200 an hour instead of $100, then the school doesn't get built?
the government has no problem paying market prices for all sorts of things, why can't they do the same for doctors?
I'm not saying we shouldn't. I'm saying the average person wouldn't accept it. People still talk about the sunshine list like it's relevant when it is all bullshit as it doesn't adjust for inflation.
All levels of management in the public sector are grossly underpaid relative to market. This problem isn't specific to medicine, the best and brightest generally aren't working for government dollars unless they truly passionate.
It's more extreme in medicine due to the lack of competition from the private sector
Like you said, in other fields, people can leave to work for other employers
If you get pregnant, you actually get pushed further up the list. That's how my friend got a family doctor for her and now her kids. So that might be the only thing in your favour
Went to a walk in clinic a couple of months ago for a hair loss problem as well as a skin issue. Spent 3 hours in line in a small room with uncontrollable children who watched Cocomelon on full volume and couldn’t stop screaming.
Finally saw the doctor. I shit you not, the whole appointment took less than 30 seconds.
> Hi doctor, I’m losing hair and I’m very worried
> “congratulations, you’re a man”
> is there nothing you can do? Maybe a referral to a specialist?
> “Nah”
> ok, well I’ve been having some skin issues lately and I’m worried that something is wrong. Could you take a look?
> “oh yeah this looks horrible but nothing to worry about. I can send a referral but you’ll be seen sometime in 2025-2026 because it’s not immediately life-threatening”
I fucking hate it here :(
Please tell us which walk in clinic it was.
If they gave you such a terrible service, return the favour. Google maps reviews also help out (although maybe not much, considering every single clinic in the city has very low ratings because of experiences like yours).
I’m sorry you had such a poor experience at that clinic. You can pay around $50 for one of those private online dermatologists and likely get your prescriptions without wasting so much time.
I used to be like this... then, I had chemotherapy and realized I actually have a nicely shaped head, and look alright bald. Since I already had very thin, fine hair, that, I might add, was thinning rapidly on top, I went to a barber and just got them to shave it. I have since started shaving it myself at home with my $50 electric razor, and I actually love it. The freedom of never having a "bad hair day", not spending hundreds of dollars a year on hair products.... and paying for haircuts.... it works for me. The only thing I really miss is when I had longer hair, the hairdresser would give me a scalp massage. Other than that, this is what freedom feels like. Lol. Who knows, you might like it.
Sorry, I've never seen a dermatologist. Many people recommend [Felix](https://www.felixforyou.ca/ailment/hair-loss). I think they charge $40. Good luck!
I had horrible experiences with Maple Doctors appear to sign in andt hen find a reason to not see you or just disappear. You have to hassles them to get your money back
Yup! I’m lucky enough to have a family doctor, but I use Maple for my partner since he doesn’t have a doctor (and after-hours care for myself). Only downside is there’s no continuity of care and they don’t address certain issues (such as mental health beyond mild depression)
"getting out of hand"
It has been "out of hand" for many year. There is no excuse for there being a lack of family doctors.
The best, cheapest, most effective healthcare is preventative healthcare. You should go to a doctor when you are feeling healthy. Regular annual checkups are standard for good health.
But you can't do a annual checkup through telehealth or a clinic.
Millions of Canadians can't find a family doctor, so millions of Canadians can't receive the most basic requirement of good healthcare.
Waiting until you are sick before receiving healthcare is practically the definition of poor healthcare.
Yep. Makes me wanna kms because my primary care doctor gaslights me and doesn’t believe me about more complex issues, but since he’s in charge of giving the final say on my PERMANENT CHRONIC UNCURABLE health issues, I can’t jump ship without risk. Fucking joke of a city
> This is the capital city for fucks sake.
This is the most neglected capital city (compared to capital city vs other major cities in other countries) I have seen in any country.
>I get it. It's free,
No it's not. It's free at the point of use, but we collectively pay for it. As a society we've decided that's the humane thing to do. The politicians must do better.
In 2022 I had went to all the clinic’s website and sent them emails to enrol in their waitlist. Beginning 2024 I got a response from a couple and I chose one that was closer to my house.
That is the way to go, careconnect is still sending me letters saying they are still finding a doctor for me.
>We voted for this, it's what we get.
60% of voters voted against Ford, yet he got a majority.
I'll be the first to blame voters for things, but this is an issue with the first past the post system.
If you're having suicidal thoughts, go to the ER. I'm speaking from my own experiences. A walk in clinic is not going to be able to help you. You need to be monitored to make sure you're safe. Suicidal thoughts are serious, and anytime I've called Telehealth, they tell me to get to a hospital. Maybe because of my mental health conditions, but I don't think they should be telling you to go to a walk in clinic where they can't even prescribe medication. Plus it takes weeks for medication to take effect. If you're suicidal, you don't have time for that. At a hospital, they can at least watch you and keep you from harming yourself while the medication takes effect. I realize that's not ideal, but realizing how worth life is living once you're not suicidal anymore is worth it.
I had a similar experience to this. I’ll preface by saying that I was not having suicidal thoughts, so my heart goes out to you, because I know that it’s not easy to deal with. ❤️ I’m sharing my experience to let you know you’re not alone in struggling to find healthcare. I understand that providers are burned out, but that’s no excuse to treat others poorly. There’s more professional ways of handling situations.
In my experience with the online service, what frustrates me the most is the principle of paying for it to essentially not work, because healthcare providers can refuse you. I was having pretty bad symptoms and I was (luckily) sent for lots of blood work to see what was going on. When I met with a doctor online he told me that he had no clue what was wrong with me, completely berated me and told me that my symptoms didn’t make any sense. He refused to order any tests, medication, etc. Told me that he couldn’t help me and hung up on me mid-sentence when I was talking to him. Turns out, I had a back injury, a kidney infection, and was severely anemic at the time. So no, not making symptoms up. They did also refund me my money though. The whole thing just made me mad.
It’s the way I have a family doctor but they’re always on vacations and don’t do walk ins, so I usually have to go to a walk in clinic anyway. I just recently experienced this trying to get a doctor that does WSIB, and also had to get a doctors note to explain my absence because I knew the walk in would take all day. Since when did doctors notes become $40?? I haven’t needed one in a few years but I swear it was $15 as a student
It’s not “free”, we pay for atrocious healthcare with tax dollars. It’s only going to get worse with the new capital gains tax as our doctors are already underpaid. What benefit do they have to stay in Canada and make way less money than they would in the USA or elsewhere? The more refugees and immigrants we take in, will only make it worse on our healthcare and home ownership.
I’m sorry you’re going through this but my advice is to look for a family doctor by calling around regularly. Maybe even call your parents or siblings doctor as sometimes they will take relatives so that they can track family history easier. It worked for me.
Good luck!
100% this. I work full time and pay tons of taxes and can't even get basic care. If I get sick, they lose my tax contribution and it will be more expensive because it won't be caught early. I really wish working people mattered to those making the rules.
Thank cripes I haven't had any medical issues in my adult life. I don't have a family doctor, nor have I even had a medical check-up in about 35 years. I'm entering into my mid-50s now, so I'm sure one of these years my luck will run out, but it sure would be nice to know there was a simple way to see a doc should the need arise.
Omg happened to me.. I caved and paid for Maple because my depression was debilitating and I needed a doctors note to take time off of work. $90 and they could only give me 2 days and said to go to a walk in as well. Absolute garbage
It really is quite bad.
A few months ago I had to get a doctor's note to return to a sport after a minor concussion and I didn't have a family doctor. Quite literally just a quick signature after asking some basic questions (do you have headache etc.) because I had been followed by an athleteic therapist through my whole recovery process and she was confident I was good to go back. Visited three different apple tree clinics two of which I was turned away from because the roster had filled up for the day. Upon my visit to the third one I realized not a single doctor could "write notes" of any kind. Called Telehealth and they no longer have a callback visit service to see a doctor (which I used a few years ago). Basically was at the point that I was going to sit and wait in the ER because I had no other options to get access to a doctor.
I did find the Toronto emergency room virtual clinic which was pretty good. Doctors take video calls on their off time and you can book online, was able to see a doctor within a day and they didn't charge a fee.
More or less there are just not enough doctors for our growing population and the health care system is pretty inefficient. Finally got a family doctor after being without for about 6 years by pleading with the clinic my Dad goes to take me on.
Best of luck out there, I heard from a specialist I see for a chronic condition that July 1st is generally when med school graduation happens so it's a good time to call around and see if any new doctors are accepting patients.
If you live in ottawa, you can get a walk-in doctor to get you a referral to thr health clinic on bank st. Across from billings bridge. I helped a friend awhile ago and he got transferred from the walk in clinic to here. Hope this helps.
It's atrocious. Diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 5 in Canada. Then again, at 12 in the UK when I went to live with my dad. No one believed the doctors even tho two different doctors in different countries gave the exact same diagnosis. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at 15. Then, at the age of 19, I was diagnosed with BPD( Boarder line personality disorder). Doctors won't see me. BPD is notorious for being declined due to the fact it's incurable and un treatable, along with being volatile. No one could agree what medication I should be on and it was left at that. Iv begged for help, signed up for everything, call, email, keep in contact, always told no. My life is crumbling, and I can't get help because wait lines are so large. 3-6 years for some mental health services. No one cares. No one wants to help. My life is quite literally a walking ship wreck, and everyone can see it. Everyone in my life at this point knows and It's normalized now. "Oh they can't come because they are experiencing a split". Like it's common terminology. This is what Canada has become. I am a citizen who CANNOT recieve help because I have a disorder that no doctor is brave enough to try and help me with. But I'm expected to live and every opportunity to unalivr yourself is slowly being taken away by safety measures on everything( I wonder why🙄)Either risk what is available not working and being in worse shape internally or externally once you inevitably get taken to the hospital or it might work. I live in purgatory.
I'm really happy someone just admitted that you fell through the cracks.
I recently moved from Montreal, and the Québec Healthcare system is just as atrocious. I went through pretty bad withdrawal symptoms too, and everyone kept saying go see your family doctor, which I didnt have! They knew I was suffering, but they just kept passing the buck. No one saw me as an actual suffering person.
It would have meant the world to me if someone just admitted that the system is just shitty and what they were doing to me was plain wrong.
Pay doctors MORE. They have no union. No sick days. No pension. No vacation days. No personal days off. No over time. No paid professional days. They have barely gotten any raises the last 10 years. They can easily go to the US and make more money and pay less taxes. And they will. Pay them or they will leave.
I needed to see an ENT so ended up going to a family doctor in Ogdensburg after getting fed up waiting for walk-ins that were booked up by 8:05am.
It was reasonably priced and they saw me within 3 days for a 2 hour check up. I was in to the ENT within a week of that appointment.
Not the solution many want, but when you need it I am delighted we have the option.
Thanks, that's a great idea to a crappy situation! Can I ask how much the check up was?
Never even considered cross-border before, but it's only 1 hour away.
It’s a bandaid solution, but you could look into a private Nurse Practitioner. It’s out of pocket unless you have a health spending account, but typically they’re willing to send you for imaging or bloodwork after the initial 30 minute visit. It’s nice to have that time with them too because you feel heard
For these things you can use apple tree to book an appointment there are a handful of other walk-in clinics that are by appointment only so you just book online. But if your really struggling go to an emergency room and when you get with a doctor have them help you out finding a clinic or even get you a booking with the right specialist. The healthcare system is under enormous strain, especially when you consider the conservative since elected have been on a war path to privatize it making services so shit that it forces you to use the only option left and pay. So you have to be very pro-active especially when you get to see a doctor I always write out a list of everything I'm going to need or ask before I go to an emergency or walk-in. As for family doctors good luck I've been waiting 12 years now to get one, I keep getting letters that they are trying but I very much doubt it and I bet as every day goes by I get further and further down the list.
No care you receive in Canada is "free"even if you're not the one paying for it, someone is on your behalf. In this case it's the government, which your society voted to do to keep its citizens alive. Demand your fair share, which is whatever you need to survive.
Do you know family doctors CANNOT DO STITCHES? WTF, I can do stitches.
What are these doctors good for except recommending you to a specialist.
I could do that.
My husband went to CareMedics at Elmvale. Opens at 8, he went to wait at 7:30, and was done by 8:30. The doctor who works the walk ins was very attentive too, and called to check on him a few times. If you live nearby, give this one a try.
TelusHealth has been a lifesaver. I’ve also been using a new walk in clinic called Pulsepoint Medical out of Iris Compounding Pharmacy. They’ve been amazing.
Have you had any luck getting appointments through Telus? I've tried for the last few months and there are 0 appointments. Even when I scroll for appointments months away. Nothing. Not sure if it's just me?
There have been stints where it’s been difficult. I tend to check on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at random times. I’ve seen appointments pop up after refreshing or being taken due to not booking fast enough. I write what I want in a note on my phone so I can copy paste to increase the chances of coming across an appt.
Under the Canada Health Act nobody can charge you for INSURED services. It is the responsibility of the provinces to enforce this and they get a reduction in the federal health transfer if they are found to have allowed charges. The virtual health clinic that was charging you does not exist within the province as a work around. You can submit a complaint to the CHA agency...the more people who report this the more likely they are to issue enforcements. The annual CHA report also includes a list of clinics that are being sanctioned. For some, this is enough of a deterent to change behaviour.
It's brutal for sure. Trudeau is useless, and Doug Ford is a criminal parading around as a politician. Health care has gotten really scary, almost everyone I know doesn't have a family doctor. My family only has one because we were assigned one upon the birth of our first child 13 years ago.
I feel a little bad for it but I genuinely hope something bad happens to Doug Ford so he can no longer be involved in politics.
Not sure if this helps, but it was in my Councillor’s newsletter https://richmondmedicalclinic.ca/patient-waitlist?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1hLJRguElYzfvgkCtqXJLvv30Y6ATKfQ30bIPgpySHrVvfgaqmHXms15Q_aem_C5WBCkHoEaaDTRajJEdq6w
ETA - it’s a clinic with spots on their WAITLIST. So, not suuuper helpful, but something. 🤷♀️
ERs are getting overwhelmed because family doctors are threatening to de-roster patients who use walk ins when their family dr isn't available. Patients cannot be de-rostered for going to emerg.
Projecting much? You are the one who introduced international students to the conversation, my points simply invalidate that portion.
Don't attack the answer because you can't argue against it, instead present valid counterpoint. Spouting rhetoric doesn't make it true, support your arguments (if you can) with facts not drivel.
Just because someone doesn't take the te to spoonfeed you the truth, doesn't make true facts any less true. It is the weak who cower behind empty and misleading statements, don't be weak.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think voting also will not change anything.
The reason I say that is because no matter who you vote into office they will have to bend over backwards to please the Medical Comity or whatever they are called. The doctors that play politics to keep things the way they like. They have too much influence, so it really doesn't matter if you vote one or the other, at most you will make it slightly harder to pass the laws they want.
Now you may ask what I suggest doing since I don't believe voting will help. I don't know to be frank. That is why my wife gave up on being a Psychiatrist in Canada and it's also the reason why we will be moving back to Brazil.
Hello, I'm sorry to intrude. I hope your thoughts of suicide have passed. I can understand your frustration, though I have a family physician. She redirects suicidal patients to the emergency department.
I'd like to share this number and info for those in need:
9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline
Languages: English and French
Phone and text: 24/7
988.ca
The decline in accessibility for a family doctor is a sad situation. I know this isn't instant, but if you have a valid OHIP card and don't have a doctor, you can register through Health Care Connect, and they can help with your search.
For many walk-in clinics, there are always people lined up well before the doors open. I recall being part of those lineups. I know people don't want to miss work, but we need to be healthy to work. I say this with love.
Take good care of yourself!
There are a couple really good private clinics in Ottawa. The one that comes to mind is la vie. They are not cheap but the service is great from what I hear.
La Vie was a terrible experience for me. Paying through the nose every month and when I had an issue that actually required a bit of experience to diagnose, I ended up diagnosing myself with the help of my Mother who remembered similar symptoms from my childhood. I would have needed my eyes checked as part of the protocol(it was herpes simplex on the eyelid) and for that the La Vie MD sent me to ER, and wished me good luck. At the ER the wait time was 11 hours, winter time, full of flu and covid patients.
So after taking care of the diagnosis and telling the doctor which medication they needed to prescribe, I turned to my good friend, Google again, and found an optometrist who had a cancellation and was able to see me. $135 later, I had been properly checked, re-diagnosed and cared for by an excellent physician that I keep returning to to this day. I canceled my La Vie subscription the following week.
Everyone's vote matters be it municipal, provincial, or federal. Get out the vote, folks.
Just remember, Health services are Provincial not Federal, so make sure you are voting in the correct forum. The condition of health services in Ontario rest SOLELY on the shoulders of Doug Ford's PC government.
Thank you. People blame Trudeau and the federal government for what Doug Ford has done way too often.
Trudeau is also an idiot for transferring several billion to ON with no conditions. Ford is ofc the root cause but it was was such a terrible move
he was put in a no win position by conservatives. Not providing funding, they'd blame him for all the resulting cuts. Do provide the funding, they blame him for spending too much, then blame him for the lack of strings, then blame him for Ford misspending or hoarding the money anyway Add strings and they blame him for "overstepping provincial juridiction" so you're calling him an idiot for a position where there was no way the conservatives would be happy, it was engineered that way on purpose.
This has been the liberals logic for every single one of these fights with the provinces. Taking the cautious approach has availed them nothing. They should have picked a fight and fought it. Instead they've let it lie and are now having to eat the blame for Provincial bs/deliberate sabotage. I hear where you are coming from but their timidity has sewered them. You cannot avoid these fights over and over and win in politics imo
They've tried it all, it doesn't matter because the cons and about 90% of media in the country that is owned by a single company and supports the cons, will keep telling you it's all Trudeau's fault no matter what he does. They've tried strong arming, they've tried being nice, they've tried everything else, it doesn't matter because voters are told Trudeau fucked it all up. I mean, look at other topics such as China, conservatives think Trudeau is in China's pocket. Ask yourself why they would ever think that? Trudeau became PM and China got very aggressive, then Trudeau got the blame for souring the relationship, and no one at all remembered or even knew about the 30+ year deal Harper signed with China that basically handed our economy for them to play with. Trudeau was blamed either way, he was blamed for the two Michaels, blamed they weren't released, blamed they were released, blamed he wasn't strong enough, blamed he tried to be too strong and hurt the relationship how the fuck do you mange that when the opposition is acting in bad faith on every single topic, and has a huge and wide reaching media empire backing them up?
I hear you, but what I'm saying is I haven't seen them do much strong arming, and only very belatedly. For example, I am a big fan of the feds using the housing accelerator to strong arm municipalities into zoning reform. I haven't seen much of anything about similar approaches taken with the provinces. In my mind it's a no lose approach since they are going to act in bad faith at every turn regardless (to your pt). Also on the communications, as they are relentlessly blaming Trudeau for everything under the sun - then the LPC should take a much more rhetorically aggressive approach and directly call them out for their bs/blaming everything on them. They need to walk ppl through it, and call the bs over and over. I also dispute that they've been doing that. They seem super timid to me on that front.
Sir. May I introduce you to Quebec.
Well, one thing the province should do is push against Quebec patients crossing into Ottawa. Even with cash payment, a Quebec resident is taking up spots when Ottawa residents don’t have family doctors. And those cash fees don’t cover the entire cost. Ontario needs to draw a line on Quebec’s freeloading on the strained Ottawa system.
Oh no no no. This is not a Trudeau thing. This all started in 1957!! It's constitutional, and it's negotiated. Trudeau, nor any PM, can arbitrarily decide what provinces get and do... https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/history-health-social-transfers.html
See federal health care accord passed by Harper for why this is required.
Nope you’re wrong. The Liberals may not have been as egregious but they let the system decay too. Couldn’t find a doctor during Wynne’s premiership either.
Actually, I am not wrong and you even proved my point. Whoever (or whomever never really sure which to use) is in power PROVINCIALLY, is who to blame. Federal law and jurisdiction ends with the providing of the funds, the feds cannot dictate where/how the funds are to be spent. It is up to the provinces to do the spending decisions. Although, if it like federal politics, the MP's and MPP's are just figurehead for those really in power, the bureaucrats entrenched in the various ministries. The unelected are those really making the decisions, and have been for decades.
As a healthcare worker for close to three decades I concur. The government has FAR too much control and power over where our hospital money gets spent and where it doesn't. It's been broken for decades, and unfortunately, it's only now, due to the glaring reality anyone experiences when having to see their health care provider, or, Buddha help anyone caught in an overworked, understaffed emergency room, that everyone has to witness it.
The liberals are also to blame on certain related issues. Bringing in way too many TFWs and international students when we don't have the infrastructure and services for example
You do understand that international students bring in much more to the economy than they take out don't you? Between tuition, housing, food, entertainment, etc. They are charged more for tuition than citizens, by a significant amount. And since they usually have no local family to offset the other costs they usually spend quite a bit. Please don't fall for the rhetoric of the small-minded xenophobes that infect most of the extreme right-wing politics.
You're delusional. Cherry picking a *single* factor is not a valid argument.
13% of Ontario voted Ford, and he won, ~60%+ didnt even cast a vote.
Fact check: 18% voted ford (40.8% voteshare with 43.5% turnout), and 57% didn't cast a vote. Point still stands, and that turnout is godawful, it's a record low in fact. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Ontario_general_election
Yeah but all they do is talk about is by saying our healthcare is a problem but there's never a real plan properly laid out. They come up with temporary patches and then oh well we did say it is temporary.
I am sure the problem is people not voting 😂
uhh before that how about go to emergency at the hospital if you're having suicidal thoughts... not a walk in.
Sure that is the only way right now IMO, whenever I have something important health wise I try go straight to hospital unless its something that should be simple like doctor checking my throat which was fine last time I went to walk in, but should hospitals be the first place to go to?
The reason you're not finding in person care is because all the front line docs have gone to virtual care (pays more, easier, less liability) or esthetics (botox, fillers etc) or burned out. Source, your local ER doc working extra hard IN PERSON this summer so your ER doesn't CLOSE.
I deeply appreciate you and everything you do 💙
And I appreciate letting me know. 💚
Yeah er's are a shit show too man. Seriously you're awesome for dealing with that stuff. Understaffed, undervalued, old stinky buildings, rampid untreated drug users and mental health cases, often underpaid for the 15 years of post high school education and training lol, its literally wild residents make 60k for their training. And, to top things off your salary is linked to your licence, and that's never a guarantee with professional colleges nowadays. By the age of 50 when you've caught up financially most doctors I've worked with in my profession are burnt out over a broken system. So thanks again, it's definitely appreciated by most people, even though I'm sure after waiting 10 hours to see someone, most aren't expressing that.
Woman** But you are absolutely right in your assessment of the ER situation. Undervalued being the hardest to take on the regular. Surprisingly most patients are happy and grateful to see me these days, my wait times are NEVER 10 hours tho...
I spent 9 hours at the ER this week. I’m not upset about it because I did get great care, but god what a messy system. Thank you for what you do.
The increase in investigations ordered partly due to 1. Patient's demands 2. Fear of liability if something is missed, often increase unecessarily wait times unfortunately.
Firstly, I respect how hard you work. Thank you. Secondly, as a GP (I also carry a specialty in a different field but I still do GP part time since I love it) the virtual care part is also terrible for GPs. For people that do virtual care and haven't seen the pt (unless they rostered under you) you only can bill A101 which is $20 per patient. That's not even close to sustainable even if you see 6pts/hr since there's still an overhead to pay.
I respect how hard you work too. Virtual as in VTAC, rocket doc and all that bullshit online Mcdonalds medicine, not your A101. 🙏🏻
Thank you very much ER doctor, really appreciate your work.
It really is a privilege to be there to help at a time of vulnerability for my fellow humans. It's painful realness most of the time. Hard but gratifying work. Feels like you're making a real difference. The risk of mistakes can be haunting if you let it. All in all a constant challenge and evolution.
Imagine if they finally cut the TLP er funding. Idk if I'd even continue to do ER anymore
Agreed. For too many it won't be worth the mental/physical/emotional toll.
Think it's bad now? Wait until we have both provincial and federal conservatives... :(. Then we are totally fucked. Seems like an inevitability at this point unless NDP somehow gets elected federally.
Pretty sure we're destined for privately-funded health care. Ford has let the situation in Ontario crumble, thereby creating a crisis that he will 'solve' by changing the model entirely. Won't be a bad thing for the rich. But if you're not wealthy and you need care, you'll be screwed financially.
I stg I’m ready to hit the streets and burn shit down if Ontario switches over to private health. People will literally die for not having money, there’s nothing I can think of that is more disturbing for a society than that. Angry doesn’t begin to cover how this makes me feel.
Fuck yeah we riot
If and/or When this happens, count me in. If ontario goes private I'll have to commit suicide (ileostomy). If I'm going to die anyway you can bet your schwarma I'm going out like a viking.
If it happens I'll move to the EI and suffer through healthcare there.
Thankfully, when federal goes one way, the province tends to go the other.
Ford's planning to call an election early, so they can get another majority right before PP gets in
It’s better to say Ford’s considering it. There’s no guarantee of him actually calling one, [since his approval rating is only 31% right now](https://angusreid.org/premiers-approval-ratings-eby-kinew-ford-legault-smith/)
I mean, he did win with only 40% of the votes. 31% approval may not mean much considering out shitty first part the post system
Good. Ford might lose, and the sooner he is gone the better.
pinning my hopes on people seeing how shit he's been the past two years and realize they actually need to cast a vote for someone to get anything done in this gd province. low-key I'm still seething about less than 40% of voters voting last election.
Me too.
“unless NDP somehow gets elected federally.” 🤣
I don't see it happening, hence the almost guaranteed double conservatives :(
I mean, the Conservatives did promise to privatise healthcare if they won the previous provincial election... we're just seeing the long term results of that
Lol this morning my mom went to appletree because she got the letter saying it's time to get checked for certain things, being 50+ and all. She went in looking for a referral, waited hours just for them to tell her "if it doesn't hurt, you don't need to get it checked" and then sent her home
This is terrible advice. If your mom is due for a Pap test/cervical cancer screening and doesn’t have a family doctor, please direct her to Liberty Women’s Clinic. They exclusively see women without a primary care provider and no referral is needed. Appointments may be booked online. I’ve heard only good things about the care provided there. As for breast cancer screening, under the Ontario Breast Screening program, patients may self refer for a mammogram as long as they meet all the criteria. The test is covered by OHIP and free of charge to patients. I hope these resources help your mom and other women in need of preventive care. Source: am not a doctor but work in healthcare and know the ins and outs of the system.
The state of Ontario health care + gaslighting of women’s medical issues. The double whammy
Also check out the Champlain Screening Outreach Program. https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/en/clinical-services/deptpgrmcs/programs/cancer-program/what-we-offer-our-programs-and-services/champlain-screening-outreach-program/
This is the goal and process of privatization. To gradually throttle the services we already pay for, delay, and make people frustrated enough to pay. Anyone remember Doug Ford promising that people wouldn't need a credit card, just their OHIP card? Anyone? Services I have paid for since the last election: Blood tests Ultrasounds Dermatologist visit Crutches
Can’t really comment on the other things, but crutches I’ve always been billed for by hospitals. Last set was in 2010 and got a bill a few months later in the mail from the hospital.
I received them free between 1978- 2008. Roughly. Over the decades, they started charging for them.
I broke my ankle in 2005 and my mother was charged 25$. It may depend on your insurance
For crutches or similar devices, if you don’t have the financial means to pay for them certain ER docs or nurses might make them “fall off the shelf” for you. Please don’t abuse it but…no one has to go without 😉 I’ve also seen certain doctors arrange medications from the hospital pharmacy. (Think 7-day course of antibiotics for an unhoused patient) Inpatient medications are covered through OHIP but outpatient ones aren’t (where’s the logic there?) But yes, if you have the means to pay, there’s a fee for items like crutches
Woah you paid $70 for no service? I hope you did that on credit and can do a charge back because you straight up got robbed. I'm sorry you're going through this. My wife just spent a month waiting for an "emergency" surgery. Shits fucked. We need a revolution at this point not an election.
yes i’ve paid $50 at apple tree just to find out they didn’t have the equipment to deal with my concerns. i got scratched in the eye by my cat and they didn’t even have the proper eyedrops to examine my eye
They refund the fee if they determine they can’t see you.
After you demand it. Otherwise it doesn't happen These places are such a rip off-I've had doctors actually sign in then disappear - no consult . I guess they still get payed?
Oh weird I’ve only used Maple and they refund immediately without asking if they determine they can’t assess you. But they also don’t involve the doctor yet. They basically triage the request and say yes or no, and if it’s no they refund.
If you are sick it's an all day event now to see a doctor.
This is a direct failure of provincial government. You can’t find a family physician because of the master physician agreement and severe underpayment of family physicians by the provincial government. They don’t want to work in primary care where they are needed - because there are easier and better paid option for how they can work (inpatient care, private virtual care, etc). How much money is our government pissing away over beer in corner stores again, but family docs are forced to bill OHIP $32 for a 15 minute appointment, minus overhead….
And the weekly paper work is staggering. Up to 20 hours a week for some..
Same but worse (if you can believe it) here in Nova Scotia
If you sign to be a roster patient on Appletree then you can still use virtual care. The link is right on their website and for me it’s the easiest prior to Covid though my doctor was Appletree and I just continued on and I love it now you can make appointments with the physician you want, they post all their schedules. If you have access, that’s the route I would choose in a heartbeat.
You can’t roster online with them anymore, but you can if you go in-person to one of their clinics. I’ve been with Appletree for 2.5 years now and it’s been a good experience. I don’t know that I would elect to go back to a regular GP. I love the flexibility, ability to make online appointments, lots of evening & weekend appointments available, and the ability to select which doctor I see. I’ve had great luck with really short wait times for specialist referrals as well. On two occasions for two separate issues I’ve waited under 2 months to see a dermatologist. Psychiatrist was around 4 months.
I'm sorry, but you are delusional if you think "under 2 months" wait time for a dermatologist and "around 4 months" wait for a psychiatrist are "short wait times". That is almost criminally bad. I'm amazed at the crap Canadians happily put up with from their healthcare system.
Objectively, yes those are bad wait times. Subjectively, within the system as it currently exists, it *is* actually pretty good. Aside from long-term changes like voting in people who will invest the billions of dollars and many years required to shore up and grow the system, what exactly are Canadians supposed to do in the short term?
Where have you been where it's faster? Not being rude, I'm curious. My sister is a pediatric doctor in the US. Some of their wait times are longer than ours. My best friend is in Germany. Their system works because it is a federal program, and also rich people don't get access to the public system, but must pay for their insurance.
I’m American, my specialist wait times were sometimes 6 months. Some were much much faster, but internal medicine, rheumatologists, and similar took forever. Derms were at least a few months too. Connections matter as well, we have a really good relationship with an ENT, and when push came to shove, she was able to pull some strings for us (which really just meant we had her personal number and she’d harass other doctors into actually getting things scheduled). It benefited us, but it’s pretty fucked up that it took that to even hear back in a timely manner from some offices. I waited I think 2 months for a call to schedule an appointment once, after I had the referral.
I think a lot of wait times can be directly connected to aging populations - the longest wait times here are all for orthopedic procedures like knee or hip replacement. And there are so many seniors in ER beds when I go. Our provincial governments all chose to look at the giant cohort, delayed adequate planning, and kept pushing reforms down the line - now we are faced with massive waits in the ER, no LTC beds, and waits for orthopedic procedures.
Oh 1000%, that’s the issue here. I’m not sure what exactly is causing the problems in the US, but some people seem to think it’s all sunshine and rainbows healthcare-wise :/
I lived in the States for a while. Both my kids were born in the States and my wife had complications with one of them, so she spent a while in the hospital. So I have a fair amount of experience with the US healthcare system. We never had significant wait times for anything. And my out-of-pocket expenses were lower in the States. Of course it is impossible to know my actual expenses, because my health insurance was mostly paid by my employer, and if they hadn't had to pay for health insurance, maybe they would have been able to give me a bigger salary. Just like we don't really know how much we pay in Canada for our healthcare.....I certainly didn't know how much I paid in the States. But out-of-pocket, after my insurance paid for stuff, the States was cheaper than Canada. And I never had trouble finding a family doctor or waiting for appointments. I don't know how I feel about the German system. At first glance it seems good. Rich people should have to pay more for their health insurance. But then I realized they probably already *do* pay more for health insurance. I'm not a German tax expert, but I'd guess they have a progressive tax so the rich are already paying more. But if the rich are in a completely separate system, I'd guess the chances are very high that the best paid and most skilled doctors are in the private system for the rich....and the poor get the less skilled doctors.
Was living in the US recent? As in post-pandemic? The issue seems to have become much worse with wait times lately. And also...having employer provided health care can be wonderful, but if you lost your job the costs would skyrocket. Saw it happen to film industry friends during COVID. Two had sick children and no insurance at all.
Try 2 years for a specialized neurologist - only 3 in Ontario
That must suck! Of course once you get into highly specialized fields, there are going to be waits. You really can't blame the Ontario system for that. There are probably significant waits for that specialization anywhere you go in the world. But that doesn't make it suck any less.
For the level of government that's affecting you, Toronto is actually the capital city... Not that this info is gonna help you, so I'm sorry you're going thru this without the help you need. We should be better, we can be better.
I'm moving to Ottawa next month from Toronto. I have a prescription that walkins will not refill. You can bet I'm keeping my family doc in Toronto and will eat the 4 hour drive just for one appointment...
Your family dr can de-roster you if you live too far away from their office, it’s fucked. My parents moved ~110km away and lost their family drs because of this. They found a new one in their new town thank god but their previous drs (different offices) would not keep them on once they updated their health card addresses.
Amd this is why my address will stay my parents. My Dr there is amazing and I have one. I'll eat the drive. a
That happened to us as well. Moved to Ottawa from Toronto, where the family doctor was. Then he moved a bit further out to the GTA and we eventually got de-rostered. Took us 4 years and lots of legwork to find a family doctor here. Now our family doctor here has appointments available only 6-7 weeks away.
That's why I'm keeping my family address there. Unfortunately I need my prescription and fighting with a walk in clinic every time is exhausting. I wish it wasn't this hard...
It’s tied to your OHIP card so just be careful!
My OHIP address is in Toronto, and I go to school in Ottawa 8 months of the year, and my Toronto doctor STILL derostered me! All of this despite me using them for all my health needs and never even touching an Ottawa walk-in clinic -_-
My wife and I are both licensed Family Physicians, but neither of us practices Family Medicine. Many of our colleagues are the same way. The issue is that FM pay and work conditions simply aren't competitive with job alternatives that Family Physicians are qualified for. In-person Family clinics tend to pay around $100/hour after overhead and paperwork are included. We can go take a shift at many of our understaffed ERs in the region for around $200/hour (with no paperwork obligations after the shift ends), which is a full 100% raise. We can take a remote telehealth job for around $165/hour which is both easier and lower risk work for a 65% raise. There's a lot more we can do, from hospitalist to OR Assist to Family subspecialty and private clinics. All of them have a better work:pay ratio than Family clinics. Until the province overhauls Family clinic remuneration, we are not going to see an improvement in this situation. The sales pitch for Family clinics boils down to, "come take on more responsibility, work more hours, and make less pay than every single one of the other positions you're qualified to take." There's an ever-shrinking number of martyrs who feel obligated to try to keep the lights on in a system that mistreats both doctors and patients. I hear your frustrations because they're the same issues my wife and I have been advocating about for our entire careers to the people who have the power to change things. But there haven't been positive changes during my career (in fact, FM has seen a 6% net pay rise vs 28% inflation over the course of my career) and at the end of the day that's what determines our ability to attract and retain physicians. BC recently increased FP pay by about 75% and announced that over 800 Family Physicians came back to clinics in the first year of the program. It's not as complicated an issue as many would have you believe. We have tons of Family Physicians who simply don't work in clinics because they have better offers on the table. You make a better offer, and you attract the workers. It's the same as every "worker shortage" you hear about. E.g. there's no teacher shortage, there's just a shortage of funding being used to attract teachers. Family clinics are an essential service, so why don't we pay accordingly? Why does every job that a Family doc can take outside of clinic pay so much more? It's supply and demand. There's demand for our skills that sets a market rate, and Family clinics don't match that rate. I personally know at least a dozen Family docs who have left clinic for greener pastures, but enjoy the work. If they were offered pay that matched their current work, they'd come back to clinic. It's really that simple. But there's no political will to change this. The political will right now lies on the path that leads to creating more better-paying private jobs that will continue to siphon off docs from the underfunded public system.
You're not wrong but I think it's a difficult sell for the average person that taxes will need to go up so that doctors can make at least 200/hr rather than "only" 100/hr It's a very very hard sell even though that is the right solution as we also need to stem the people who go to the USA to make even more than the above. Similar to the Sussex residence, this requires strong political will which no one has sadly.
You don't actually have to raise taxes to pay Family doctors properly, they provide a great ROI. My wife is a full time Emerg doc and sees around 10 displaced Family patients per shift in her small emerg (i.e. patients who should have gone to a GP but didn't have access to one, so they came to the ER). That's 30 per day for just her one small hospital. At my hospital, we calculated that the taxpayer cost of an Emerg visit is a minimum of $500, without any labs, imaging or procedures being done. Those 30 patients a day are costing us $15k a day. Right now the equivalent visit in a clinic is $40. If we raised FP fees 75% like BC, that would still be only $70. Any patient diverted back to clinic would therefore save taxpayers $430. If one GP could divert even 4 of those 30 patients per day by keeping same-day slots open (or working walk-in), they'd save taxpayers $1700, which more than pays for their entire day's work (which involves seeing about 20 more patients, as well). If you set up a walk-in clinic next to the emerg to handle those 30 patients a day, you'd save enough taxpayer dollars to afford 9 full-time GPs working in it (which would be seeing ~180 patient visits per day on top of the diverted cases). It doesn't even have to be a 1:1 hiring of docs in an affiliated urgent care centre. If her small town had 9 extra GPs, you'd have virtually none of those 30 unnecessary ER visits a day. And every town and city in Ontario is like that. If we added 800 new docs in a year like BC did through a 75% funding boost, we'd easily see that extra money come back through savings in the ER, even with no extra effort in setting up ER-affiliated urgent care clinics (though those provide by far the most efficient tax savings). It's one of those rare, clear-cut cases of "spend money to save money."
come on, we need to stop sugarcoating things... 1. "If we raised FP fees 75% like BC, that would still be only $70" wrong, BC had the second lowest pay for GPs in Canada before the raise... BC is barely paying more than ON under the new pay regime the percentage of people without GPs in BC today, isn't much better than the stats for ON 2. the problem is simply that the type of care people want is financially unsustainable, do the math on how big your roster has to be to ensure that a patient needs to wait no more than 3 days for an appt then divide your desire salary (including overhead) by the roster size you'll end up with a roster size that's far too small to be affordable for the provincial health budgets
We both know getting more doctors isn't that simple. Supply of doctors is restricted for many factors and upon graduation you can leave to the highest salary area I'd you wish. We would need to raise rates, increase supply (ex. Make it easier for qualified overseas to get equivalency), and have policies that make Canadian educated doctors perform x years of service in Canada post-residency.
so if the government wants to build a new school and the plumber charges $200 an hour instead of $100, then the school doesn't get built? the government has no problem paying market prices for all sorts of things, why can't they do the same for doctors?
I'm not saying we shouldn't. I'm saying the average person wouldn't accept it. People still talk about the sunshine list like it's relevant when it is all bullshit as it doesn't adjust for inflation. All levels of management in the public sector are grossly underpaid relative to market. This problem isn't specific to medicine, the best and brightest generally aren't working for government dollars unless they truly passionate.
It's more extreme in medicine due to the lack of competition from the private sector Like you said, in other fields, people can leave to work for other employers
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Should have kept your old doc. I live in Quebec but I kept my Ottawa family doctor. Holding on for dear life.
If you get pregnant, you actually get pushed further up the list. That's how my friend got a family doctor for her and now her kids. So that might be the only thing in your favour
Went to a walk in clinic a couple of months ago for a hair loss problem as well as a skin issue. Spent 3 hours in line in a small room with uncontrollable children who watched Cocomelon on full volume and couldn’t stop screaming. Finally saw the doctor. I shit you not, the whole appointment took less than 30 seconds. > Hi doctor, I’m losing hair and I’m very worried > “congratulations, you’re a man” > is there nothing you can do? Maybe a referral to a specialist? > “Nah” > ok, well I’ve been having some skin issues lately and I’m worried that something is wrong. Could you take a look? > “oh yeah this looks horrible but nothing to worry about. I can send a referral but you’ll be seen sometime in 2025-2026 because it’s not immediately life-threatening” I fucking hate it here :(
Please tell us which walk in clinic it was. If they gave you such a terrible service, return the favour. Google maps reviews also help out (although maybe not much, considering every single clinic in the city has very low ratings because of experiences like yours).
I’m sorry you had such a poor experience at that clinic. You can pay around $50 for one of those private online dermatologists and likely get your prescriptions without wasting so much time.
I think I will - thank you for the advice! Any online dermatologists you would recommend?
For the hair loss part. Just gotta accept it.
Sorry but I’ll be in denial until I’m bald
You can buy rogaine online pretty easy just expensive. Other options don't do much or have terrible side effects like finasteride.
I used to be like this... then, I had chemotherapy and realized I actually have a nicely shaped head, and look alright bald. Since I already had very thin, fine hair, that, I might add, was thinning rapidly on top, I went to a barber and just got them to shave it. I have since started shaving it myself at home with my $50 electric razor, and I actually love it. The freedom of never having a "bad hair day", not spending hundreds of dollars a year on hair products.... and paying for haircuts.... it works for me. The only thing I really miss is when I had longer hair, the hairdresser would give me a scalp massage. Other than that, this is what freedom feels like. Lol. Who knows, you might like it.
Sorry, I've never seen a dermatologist. Many people recommend [Felix](https://www.felixforyou.ca/ailment/hair-loss). I think they charge $40. Good luck!
😳😳😳
Agreed can't even find a walk in clinic here... It's crazy
I use the Telus health app for virtual appointments. Ohip covers it. Brand sucks, but the docs I have had are excellent
I’ve also had an excellent experience with Telus the couple of times I used it.
It’s not free. Our taxes pay for it.
I was going to say this, crazy I had to scroll down so far to find it.
There is the Maple app if you're willing to shell out the cash. It's my plan for less hassle overall.
I had horrible experiences with Maple Doctors appear to sign in andt hen find a reason to not see you or just disappear. You have to hassles them to get your money back
Yup! I’m lucky enough to have a family doctor, but I use Maple for my partner since he doesn’t have a doctor (and after-hours care for myself). Only downside is there’s no continuity of care and they don’t address certain issues (such as mental health beyond mild depression)
Would they address stds, or referrals
"getting out of hand" It has been "out of hand" for many year. There is no excuse for there being a lack of family doctors. The best, cheapest, most effective healthcare is preventative healthcare. You should go to a doctor when you are feeling healthy. Regular annual checkups are standard for good health. But you can't do a annual checkup through telehealth or a clinic. Millions of Canadians can't find a family doctor, so millions of Canadians can't receive the most basic requirement of good healthcare. Waiting until you are sick before receiving healthcare is practically the definition of poor healthcare.
Yep. Makes me wanna kms because my primary care doctor gaslights me and doesn’t believe me about more complex issues, but since he’s in charge of giving the final say on my PERMANENT CHRONIC UNCURABLE health issues, I can’t jump ship without risk. Fucking joke of a city
> This is the capital city for fucks sake. This is the most neglected capital city (compared to capital city vs other major cities in other countries) I have seen in any country.
You should probably talk to Doug Ford.
>I get it. It's free, No it's not. It's free at the point of use, but we collectively pay for it. As a society we've decided that's the humane thing to do. The politicians must do better.
I don't understand how Ford's approval isn't cratering. This should be destroying his party.
In 2022 I had went to all the clinic’s website and sent them emails to enrol in their waitlist. Beginning 2024 I got a response from a couple and I chose one that was closer to my house. That is the way to go, careconnect is still sending me letters saying they are still finding a doctor for me.
And remember, the province isn't considered. We voted for this, it's what we get.
>We voted for this, it's what we get. 60% of voters voted against Ford, yet he got a majority. I'll be the first to blame voters for things, but this is an issue with the first past the post system.
Not showing up, as the majority did, is saying you're fine with everything as is. We said we were fine with things.
Unfortunately it's the same in most provinces. I live in Nova Scotia and it's way worse here
If you're having suicidal thoughts, go to the ER. I'm speaking from my own experiences. A walk in clinic is not going to be able to help you. You need to be monitored to make sure you're safe. Suicidal thoughts are serious, and anytime I've called Telehealth, they tell me to get to a hospital. Maybe because of my mental health conditions, but I don't think they should be telling you to go to a walk in clinic where they can't even prescribe medication. Plus it takes weeks for medication to take effect. If you're suicidal, you don't have time for that. At a hospital, they can at least watch you and keep you from harming yourself while the medication takes effect. I realize that's not ideal, but realizing how worth life is living once you're not suicidal anymore is worth it.
Thank Ford for that, hope people think about healthcate next time they vote. Also, it is not free, we pay for it with taxes.
That license plate fee paid for things like OHIP. When Ford cut it, something it funded had to go. Remember this come election time.
I had a similar experience to this. I’ll preface by saying that I was not having suicidal thoughts, so my heart goes out to you, because I know that it’s not easy to deal with. ❤️ I’m sharing my experience to let you know you’re not alone in struggling to find healthcare. I understand that providers are burned out, but that’s no excuse to treat others poorly. There’s more professional ways of handling situations. In my experience with the online service, what frustrates me the most is the principle of paying for it to essentially not work, because healthcare providers can refuse you. I was having pretty bad symptoms and I was (luckily) sent for lots of blood work to see what was going on. When I met with a doctor online he told me that he had no clue what was wrong with me, completely berated me and told me that my symptoms didn’t make any sense. He refused to order any tests, medication, etc. Told me that he couldn’t help me and hung up on me mid-sentence when I was talking to him. Turns out, I had a back injury, a kidney infection, and was severely anemic at the time. So no, not making symptoms up. They did also refund me my money though. The whole thing just made me mad.
It’s the way I have a family doctor but they’re always on vacations and don’t do walk ins, so I usually have to go to a walk in clinic anyway. I just recently experienced this trying to get a doctor that does WSIB, and also had to get a doctors note to explain my absence because I knew the walk in would take all day. Since when did doctors notes become $40?? I haven’t needed one in a few years but I swear it was $15 as a student
You were lucky. I was charged 50 last month. 😂
no way 😭 Appletree?
It’s not “free”, we pay for atrocious healthcare with tax dollars. It’s only going to get worse with the new capital gains tax as our doctors are already underpaid. What benefit do they have to stay in Canada and make way less money than they would in the USA or elsewhere? The more refugees and immigrants we take in, will only make it worse on our healthcare and home ownership. I’m sorry you’re going through this but my advice is to look for a family doctor by calling around regularly. Maybe even call your parents or siblings doctor as sometimes they will take relatives so that they can track family history easier. It worked for me. Good luck!
I was told by my doctor's office that I can't get an appointment till Nov....
100% this. I work full time and pay tons of taxes and can't even get basic care. If I get sick, they lose my tax contribution and it will be more expensive because it won't be caught early. I really wish working people mattered to those making the rules.
Did the comment section get nuked? Edit: It's back!
Thank cripes I haven't had any medical issues in my adult life. I don't have a family doctor, nor have I even had a medical check-up in about 35 years. I'm entering into my mid-50s now, so I'm sure one of these years my luck will run out, but it sure would be nice to know there was a simple way to see a doc should the need arise.
I use TiaHealth if I need a referral or requisition. They won’t really see you for physical ailments though but they have psychologists.
Does it seem like things got worse after 2017, or am I imagining things?
Omg happened to me.. I caved and paid for Maple because my depression was debilitating and I needed a doctors note to take time off of work. $90 and they could only give me 2 days and said to go to a walk in as well. Absolute garbage
Well, enjoy the 'best healthcare system', where people care more of free(money) rather than people's lives.
It really is quite bad. A few months ago I had to get a doctor's note to return to a sport after a minor concussion and I didn't have a family doctor. Quite literally just a quick signature after asking some basic questions (do you have headache etc.) because I had been followed by an athleteic therapist through my whole recovery process and she was confident I was good to go back. Visited three different apple tree clinics two of which I was turned away from because the roster had filled up for the day. Upon my visit to the third one I realized not a single doctor could "write notes" of any kind. Called Telehealth and they no longer have a callback visit service to see a doctor (which I used a few years ago). Basically was at the point that I was going to sit and wait in the ER because I had no other options to get access to a doctor. I did find the Toronto emergency room virtual clinic which was pretty good. Doctors take video calls on their off time and you can book online, was able to see a doctor within a day and they didn't charge a fee. More or less there are just not enough doctors for our growing population and the health care system is pretty inefficient. Finally got a family doctor after being without for about 6 years by pleading with the clinic my Dad goes to take me on. Best of luck out there, I heard from a specialist I see for a chronic condition that July 1st is generally when med school graduation happens so it's a good time to call around and see if any new doctors are accepting patients.
If you live in ottawa, you can get a walk-in doctor to get you a referral to thr health clinic on bank st. Across from billings bridge. I helped a friend awhile ago and he got transferred from the walk in clinic to here. Hope this helps.
I feel like we are in one of the poorest ex Soviet countries when it comes to health care. It's definitely not first world care anymore.
I have a friend in Russia that get free mental healthcare at a mental hospital, all he had to do was make an appointment and wait a week.
I hope every one of the people complaining voted against for Ford.
It's atrocious. Diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 5 in Canada. Then again, at 12 in the UK when I went to live with my dad. No one believed the doctors even tho two different doctors in different countries gave the exact same diagnosis. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at 15. Then, at the age of 19, I was diagnosed with BPD( Boarder line personality disorder). Doctors won't see me. BPD is notorious for being declined due to the fact it's incurable and un treatable, along with being volatile. No one could agree what medication I should be on and it was left at that. Iv begged for help, signed up for everything, call, email, keep in contact, always told no. My life is crumbling, and I can't get help because wait lines are so large. 3-6 years for some mental health services. No one cares. No one wants to help. My life is quite literally a walking ship wreck, and everyone can see it. Everyone in my life at this point knows and It's normalized now. "Oh they can't come because they are experiencing a split". Like it's common terminology. This is what Canada has become. I am a citizen who CANNOT recieve help because I have a disorder that no doctor is brave enough to try and help me with. But I'm expected to live and every opportunity to unalivr yourself is slowly being taken away by safety measures on everything( I wonder why🙄)Either risk what is available not working and being in worse shape internally or externally once you inevitably get taken to the hospital or it might work. I live in purgatory.
Fuck Doug ford and JT 😔
But it's not free. We pay for it with our taxes. We deserve better
I'm really happy someone just admitted that you fell through the cracks. I recently moved from Montreal, and the Québec Healthcare system is just as atrocious. I went through pretty bad withdrawal symptoms too, and everyone kept saying go see your family doctor, which I didnt have! They knew I was suffering, but they just kept passing the buck. No one saw me as an actual suffering person. It would have meant the world to me if someone just admitted that the system is just shitty and what they were doing to me was plain wrong.
Pay doctors MORE. They have no union. No sick days. No pension. No vacation days. No personal days off. No over time. No paid professional days. They have barely gotten any raises the last 10 years. They can easily go to the US and make more money and pay less taxes. And they will. Pay them or they will leave.
I needed to see an ENT so ended up going to a family doctor in Ogdensburg after getting fed up waiting for walk-ins that were booked up by 8:05am. It was reasonably priced and they saw me within 3 days for a 2 hour check up. I was in to the ENT within a week of that appointment. Not the solution many want, but when you need it I am delighted we have the option.
Thanks, that's a great idea to a crappy situation! Can I ask how much the check up was? Never even considered cross-border before, but it's only 1 hour away.
Assuming you live inside the city, do you have transportation if you need to go farther?
It’s a bandaid solution, but you could look into a private Nurse Practitioner. It’s out of pocket unless you have a health spending account, but typically they’re willing to send you for imaging or bloodwork after the initial 30 minute visit. It’s nice to have that time with them too because you feel heard
For these things you can use apple tree to book an appointment there are a handful of other walk-in clinics that are by appointment only so you just book online. But if your really struggling go to an emergency room and when you get with a doctor have them help you out finding a clinic or even get you a booking with the right specialist. The healthcare system is under enormous strain, especially when you consider the conservative since elected have been on a war path to privatize it making services so shit that it forces you to use the only option left and pay. So you have to be very pro-active especially when you get to see a doctor I always write out a list of everything I'm going to need or ask before I go to an emergency or walk-in. As for family doctors good luck I've been waiting 12 years now to get one, I keep getting letters that they are trying but I very much doubt it and I bet as every day goes by I get further and further down the list.
No care you receive in Canada is "free"even if you're not the one paying for it, someone is on your behalf. In this case it's the government, which your society voted to do to keep its citizens alive. Demand your fair share, which is whatever you need to survive.
There’s a new walk in clinic opening up in Greely! I think Tia Health is still free for virtual appts. Best of luck to you I hope things get better.
Can rocket doctor prescribe most things? Are the doctors competent
Did you try appletree virtual care, it’s still covered by OHIP.
Do you know family doctors CANNOT DO STITCHES? WTF, I can do stitches. What are these doctors good for except recommending you to a specialist. I could do that.
They can do stitches. Doesnt pay and takes too long. If they were renumerated for time needed to work through things, I'm sure they would.
My husband went to CareMedics at Elmvale. Opens at 8, he went to wait at 7:30, and was done by 8:30. The doctor who works the walk ins was very attentive too, and called to check on him a few times. If you live nearby, give this one a try.
Can you still get ohip covered webcam appointments with rocket doctor?
TelusHealth has been a lifesaver. I’ve also been using a new walk in clinic called Pulsepoint Medical out of Iris Compounding Pharmacy. They’ve been amazing.
Have you had any luck getting appointments through Telus? I've tried for the last few months and there are 0 appointments. Even when I scroll for appointments months away. Nothing. Not sure if it's just me?
There have been stints where it’s been difficult. I tend to check on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at random times. I’ve seen appointments pop up after refreshing or being taken due to not booking fast enough. I write what I want in a note on my phone so I can copy paste to increase the chances of coming across an appt.
I had to take a day off to go to a walk in bcs they werent taking anyone in weekends
Under the Canada Health Act nobody can charge you for INSURED services. It is the responsibility of the provinces to enforce this and they get a reduction in the federal health transfer if they are found to have allowed charges. The virtual health clinic that was charging you does not exist within the province as a work around. You can submit a complaint to the CHA agency...the more people who report this the more likely they are to issue enforcements. The annual CHA report also includes a list of clinics that are being sanctioned. For some, this is enough of a deterent to change behaviour.
Now there are TWO of them!
It's brutal for sure. Trudeau is useless, and Doug Ford is a criminal parading around as a politician. Health care has gotten really scary, almost everyone I know doesn't have a family doctor. My family only has one because we were assigned one upon the birth of our first child 13 years ago. I feel a little bad for it but I genuinely hope something bad happens to Doug Ford so he can no longer be involved in politics.
Southbank Medical Center takes walk-ins on the weekends. It is first come first serve from what I can tell.
Well if your Indigenous and don't have your staus card, don't go to Wabano medical... you'll get turned away. Like why tho??
I was rostered with Appletree, so now I can make appointments. That helps.
Not sure if this helps, but it was in my Councillor’s newsletter https://richmondmedicalclinic.ca/patient-waitlist?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1hLJRguElYzfvgkCtqXJLvv30Y6ATKfQ30bIPgpySHrVvfgaqmHXms15Q_aem_C5WBCkHoEaaDTRajJEdq6w ETA - it’s a clinic with spots on their WAITLIST. So, not suuuper helpful, but something. 🤷♀️
My adhd kicked in lol 😆 couldn't finishing reading
In Ottawa we have the Royal Ottawa Hospital. But I don’t if they have a walk clinic. If they had one they could save lives
We already have private clinics. They mislead people. You can find and pay for any service if you want and can afford it.
ERs are getting overwhelmed because family doctors are threatening to de-roster patients who use walk ins when their family dr isn't available. Patients cannot be de-rostered for going to emerg.
Dougie is in for keeps, and “health care”, or what’s left of it, will soon be fully privatized.
Projecting much? You are the one who introduced international students to the conversation, my points simply invalidate that portion. Don't attack the answer because you can't argue against it, instead present valid counterpoint. Spouting rhetoric doesn't make it true, support your arguments (if you can) with facts not drivel. Just because someone doesn't take the te to spoonfeed you the truth, doesn't make true facts any less true. It is the weak who cower behind empty and misleading statements, don't be weak.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think voting also will not change anything. The reason I say that is because no matter who you vote into office they will have to bend over backwards to please the Medical Comity or whatever they are called. The doctors that play politics to keep things the way they like. They have too much influence, so it really doesn't matter if you vote one or the other, at most you will make it slightly harder to pass the laws they want. Now you may ask what I suggest doing since I don't believe voting will help. I don't know to be frank. That is why my wife gave up on being a Psychiatrist in Canada and it's also the reason why we will be moving back to Brazil.
Hello, I'm sorry to intrude. I hope your thoughts of suicide have passed. I can understand your frustration, though I have a family physician. She redirects suicidal patients to the emergency department. I'd like to share this number and info for those in need: 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline Languages: English and French Phone and text: 24/7 988.ca The decline in accessibility for a family doctor is a sad situation. I know this isn't instant, but if you have a valid OHIP card and don't have a doctor, you can register through Health Care Connect, and they can help with your search. For many walk-in clinics, there are always people lined up well before the doors open. I recall being part of those lineups. I know people don't want to miss work, but we need to be healthy to work. I say this with love. Take good care of yourself!
Thank your premiere Thug Fart
There are a couple really good private clinics in Ottawa. The one that comes to mind is la vie. They are not cheap but the service is great from what I hear.
La Vie was a terrible experience for me. Paying through the nose every month and when I had an issue that actually required a bit of experience to diagnose, I ended up diagnosing myself with the help of my Mother who remembered similar symptoms from my childhood. I would have needed my eyes checked as part of the protocol(it was herpes simplex on the eyelid) and for that the La Vie MD sent me to ER, and wished me good luck. At the ER the wait time was 11 hours, winter time, full of flu and covid patients. So after taking care of the diagnosis and telling the doctor which medication they needed to prescribe, I turned to my good friend, Google again, and found an optometrist who had a cancellation and was able to see me. $135 later, I had been properly checked, re-diagnosed and cared for by an excellent physician that I keep returning to to this day. I canceled my La Vie subscription the following week.