Family doctors provide proactive care for patients
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Our government needs to wake up. Our health-care system in BC is in crisis. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed, walk-in clinics are not able to handle the increasingly complex patient loads and are reaching patient quotas/caps before noon. The government has us practicing “reactive” medicine when we need to focus on “proactive” medicine. Politicians need to listen to health-care workers and patients alike.
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As a registered nurse working in a primary-care family physician’s office, I see the benefits of a primary-care physician every day. Family practice physicians are like seatbelts. They prevent more serious injuries and crises by appropriately managing complex health issues in the community. They offer routine screening such as mammograms, colon cancer screening, PAP smears, etc. and help to catch things before they become serious. They advocate for patients, send for diagnoses, and refer patients to specialists. They follow patients after medication changes and recommendations from specialists. They work with patients to create action plans for chronic illnesses and help prevent these patients from ending up in hospital in crisis with an exacerbation of their chronic disease.
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And yet despite the great importance and value that a primary-care physician offers, there are fewer and fewer physicians joining group practices. Why would a family physician want to join or open a group practice that requires them to pay overhead (staffing, supplies, rent, etc.)? There is no incentive for family physicians to take on the burden of longitudinal care in a community. They are not adequately compensated for their time and effort.
The government needs to reevaluate the current compensation model for family physicians and create incentives for physicians to join group practices. Investing in proactive care will reduce the strain on our emergency and urgent care facilities.
Kim Harding, RN BScN, Comox
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School gyms an option for pickleball in the summer?
Only about 15 years ago, most Vancouverites had never heard of pickleball. All that has changed. One solution for pickleball players looking for space to play would be for schools to rent out their gymnasiums during the summer months. This would be a win-win situation.
The school board would receive compensation from the rentals of their gymnasiums just like school boards have earned money for renting their space to dance groups.
Vaughn Evans, Vancouver