After losing her family doctor earlier this year, Haley Flaro took to social media to try and find a replacement.
“Wanted: Family Physician. We are perfect, dependable, fun patients whose doctor moved to Ontario at midnight. We will commit to receiving Christmas gifts, cupcakes during visits, and advocating for your profession. We will arrive on time and bring a list of people asking no more than 2 questions per visit,” he wrote.
In an interview with CTV Atlantic, she says she was trying to put some humor into a situation that she, and many New Brunswickers, face.
“I know that’s not the best strategy, but my main theme is that there has to be ways to incentivize people to come and work in this amazing province to provide care,” he said. “I know there are shortages across Canada, but I’m really starting to see what our health system is going to be facing in two, three, four, five years from the loss of prior health care.”
Flaro also sees it firsthand in her professional role, working with people who have a mobility disability as Executive Director of Ability New Brunswick.
According to the Department of Health, the list for Patient Connect (those waiting to be matched with a primary care provider) stands at about 74,000 people.
That’s an increase of more than 30,000 in a matter of months.
A spokesperson also confirmed that between April 1 and June 30, nine family doctors were hired. But in that same period, 10 abandoned their practices.
“However, we are strengthening the provincial contracting approach; to increase our competitiveness with other provinces and countries,” Shawn Berry said in an emailed statement. “We recently increased our physician recruitment incentives to be more competitive with other jurisdictions.”
He also said work is underway to move people off the waiting list to “NB Health Link,” a program promised last fall, which will move those on the waiting list to a “network of family doctors and practicing nurses”.
“These patients can be served through this network while awaiting placement with a permanent provider,” he said.
Recently, the department has been reaching out to those on the list in the Moncton region. Priority is given to people who have been on the waiting list the longest.
The Canadian Medical Association says access to primary care is in crisis across the country.
“I think the urgency of the crisis in primary care cannot be overstated,” Dr. Katharine Smart said in an interview last week. “Our health system is a system, which means that problems in different areas impact others. When we can’t see good access to primary care, people show up elsewhere.”
She says that includes emergency departments, which have been under the microscope this summer after staffing shortages forced health authorities to reduce hours or temporarily close emergency rooms across the country.
For Flaro, he says the loss has already had an impact. A test her husband had been waiting for was in jeopardy because there was nowhere to send the results. Now, they’re turning to e-visits to fill the gap, but they hope they’ll soon be matched with a primary care doctor or practitioner. She says that they are willing to travel.
“Our great concern is that we are now in a system where we no longer receive preventive primary care that is helping us in this continuum of good health. We’re almost in a position where you have to wait for something really terrible to happen in order to get attention,” he said. “Access to primary health care has to do with prevention. It is about a relationship with your family doctor to be able to live a good quality of life and manage minor complications that can turn into major complications.”