Vancouver Island resident Joy Williamson hasn’t had a family doctor in 10 years. During that time, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While she is currently undergoing treatment, she worries about what will happen once the treatment ends, particularly if the cancer returns. “I will be released without having a [general practitioner]. That really concerns me.” Its history is well known in BC An estimated one in five – almost a million – British Columbians do not have a family doctor, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of BC’s health care crisis Emergency rooms in rural communities have been forced to close. Waiting times for emergency and specialist care continue to increase and the paramedic shortage has had serious, sometimes fatal, consequences. Alan Greenwood’s sister, Lori Williams, suffered a stroke last month and waited an hour for an ambulance, even though she lived minutes away from the hospital in New Westminster. She is now partially paralyzed and Greenwood worries about her future. “I am angry at the people who are paid to look after the system, who are not doing their jobs, who have allowed it to get to this state. And people will continue to get brain damage or die because the ambulance isn’t There isn’t. When you need an ambulance, you need an ambulance.” Michael Mort, 82, who suffers from heart and neurological conditions, suddenly found himself without a doctor after retiring in Victoria last year. His wife, Janet Mort, went so far as to place an ad in the local paper looking for a care provider. Fortunately for Mort, it worked. “All I could think was [to] go out in public. Surely, there is a compassionate doctor out there who will hear my plea and squeeze him in as one more patient,” said Janet Mort. The list goes on. All this while the COVID-19 pandemic persists and the toxic drug crisis claims hundreds of lives every month. Some blame the province’s fee-for-service model, others the enormous strain placed on health care providers. “I don’t think there’s an easy answer,” said emergency room physician and family physician Kara Perdue. Perdue works in Clearwater, BC, where the emergency room has been closed several times in recent months due to staffing issues. He wants decision-makers, such as provincial and federal ministers and local health authorities, to talk directly to health care staff about the issues they face in order to come up with a plan. In addition, he said funding for other types of health care, such as mental health support and seniors programs, would take pressure off primary and emergency health providers. In the long term, Perdue said, there needs to be more training for doctors and nurses. “I think part of it is the change in the job expectations of nurses and doctors compared to what it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago,” he said. “A lot of people who come into any profession don’t feel adequately prepared by their schooling.” On Tuesday, September 20, CBC Vancouver will host a town hall to discuss the crisis and what can be done to help alleviate the situation. Hosts Belle Puri and Anita Bathe will be joined by BC Health Minister Adrian Dix, family physician Dr. Rita McCracken and Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president of the Doctors of BC
How to watch
The town hall starts at 6 p.m. PT and will run until 7 p.m. PT. You can listen to the town hall on CBC Radio One across the province, watch it on CBC TV and stream the town hall live on CBC Gem, YouTube, Facebook and cbc.ca/bc. Email your list questions to [email protected]
