‘We’re seeing a Hunger Games’ across Ontario: Hundreds in this town line up for a chance at a family doctor
They started to arrive, and the line began to form, as early as 2 a.m.
Despite a steady snowfall and bone-chilling cold, they came to stand outside and wait their turn, hours before the doors opened at 10 a.m.
This wasn’t a queue to purchase Taylor Swift concert tickets at a kiosk in downtown Toronto.
This line was outside a Royal Canadian Legion office in Walkerton, Ont., and was for something much more coveted in Canada’s beleaguered health-care system: A chance to get their name on the patient list for a family doctor.
By the time daylight arrived and the doors had opened at the temporary registration office set up at the Legion on Wednesday, the line extended around the block.
“This is not the way it should be,” said Dr. Paul McArthur, a local doctor on the search team to attract a new physician to Walkerton. “The response that we’ve had shows that we have a provincial problem that is big.”
The word went out last week that Dr. Mitchell Currie was seeking patients for a new family medicine practice for the town of about 5,000 in Bruce County, a three-hour drive northwest of Toronto.
‘We all feel like we’ve won the lottery’
Only 500 spots were available, and Pam Cussen managed to get one of them.
“We all feel like we’ve won the lottery,” she said. “Who would have thought it would come to this to get a doctor in Canada?”
Jacqueline Simoes also arrived early to join the list. She’s been without a doctor since her physician retired eight years ago.
Simoes heard about the registration through a Facebook post and didn’t hesitate to get in line, though it meant standing outside in –10 C cold.
“I thought with today’s weather that definitely there wouldn’t be so many folks,” she said. “The fact that there are so many of my neighbours and friends that don’t have a family physician, it does speak volumes about our health-care system.”
Those who joined the line had stories that differed in detail but shared some common themes.
Like Simoes, many had gone years without a family doctor and were desperate to get on the list for one.
Almost all spoke of having to endure long waits at local hospital emergency departments for something as simple as a prescription refill. Many felt guilty about taking up resources in acute care, but with few doctors taking new patients and access to walk-in clinics limited in rural areas, they felt they had no option.
Others spoke of difficulties getting needed surgeries or referrals to specialists without first being in the care of a primary doctor.
Rural areas especially hurting for family doctors
Rula Smith, a senior, stood in line while her husband had to wait in the car because he couldn’t navigate the icy streets.
“I cannot get him in here in a wheelchair,” she said. “Everybody’s so desperate for a doctor that this is what we’re willing to do to try to get one.”
An increasing number of Canadians have no access to a primary care doctor, particularly in rural areas.
Dr. Dominik Nowak, a family physician who’s president of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), said it’s shameful that people have to stand outside in winter just to get a chance at landing a doctor. In an interview with CBC News, Nowak pointed to OMA research that suggests one in four people in Ontario don’t have a family doctor.
What we really need is a plan across the province to get people the care they need in Ontario.– Dr. Dominik Nowak, OMA president
It’s leading to intense competition for communities to entice doctors to their communities and for people to get on their patient lists, in the rare occasions when a new physician comes to town.
“We’re seeing a Hunger Games all across Ontario, with communities battling essentially for family doctors and other physicians,” Nowak said, referring to the dystopian novel where people from different regions fight to the death until one is left surviving.
“This is not sustainable — it pits communities against one another. What we really need is a plan across the province to get people the care they need in Ontario.”
According to Ontario’s College of Family Physicians, 2.5 million people don’t have a family doctor — up from 1.8 million in 2020.
“People are using the emergency department as their front door to the health-care system, and that’s not a sustainable place to be,” said Nowak.
The Ontario government has taken steps to tackle the doctor shortage, particularly in rural areas:
But as Wednesday’s scene in Walkerton illustrates, the demand for family doctors far exceeds the supply.
When the registration closed at 2 p.m. ET, the list of 500 patients had been filled and 500 more names were on a waitlist.
