Ontarian here. Your experience is not universal, but people without family doctors absolutely do struggle quite a bit. I’m fortunate enough to have an excellent doctor. I saw her last month before the holidays and got a referral for a psychiatrist who reached out to me before the new year. My appointment is next week. I’ve been able to get imaging, blood work, a sleep study, and a biopsy all within reasonable timeframes. All of this has been covered by OHIP.
I can easily see an optometrist or dentist today if I needed to, but I’d be using workplace benefits to cover those costs.
I’ve seen an uptick in my city of family doctors accepting new patients, but it’s still not enough. Not having a doctor is a huge barrier for care and contributes to the overloading of other services (urgent care, emergency rooms).
this in the US,i was originally on my states health care where a "private network "would accepted govt subsidies, but they are just a revolving door for doctors, np, and nurses getting a start in thier careers, and they just ditch the network months later for better jobs. so the care is extremely inconsistent, as im left without a pcp everytime that happens, often times im never seen by an actual MD, only NPs or PAs.
one time in '22 i was referred to a private dermatology, one of the doctors died soon after i saw him from the big “C”, so i was left what to do 1/.5years about my dermatological issues.
Ontarian here. Your experience is not universal, but people without family doctors absolutely do struggle quite a bit. I’m fortunate enough to have an excellent doctor. I saw her last month before the holidays and got a referral for a psychiatrist who reached out to me before the new year. My appointment is next week. I’ve been able to get imaging, blood work, a sleep study, and a biopsy all within reasonable timeframes. All of this has been covered by OHIP.
I can easily see an optometrist or dentist today if I needed to, but I’d be using workplace benefits to cover those costs.
I’ve seen an uptick in my city of family doctors accepting new patients, but it’s still not enough. Not having a doctor is a huge barrier for care and contributes to the overloading of other services (urgent care, emergency rooms).
this in the US,i was originally on my states health care where a "private network "would accepted govt subsidies, but they are just a revolving door for doctors, np, and nurses getting a start in thier careers, and they just ditch the network months later for better jobs. so the care is extremely inconsistent, as im left without a pcp everytime that happens, often times im never seen by an actual MD, only NPs or PAs.
one time in '22 i was referred to a private dermatology, one of the doctors died soon after i saw him from the big “C”, so i was left what to do 1/.5years about my dermatological issues.