Three years ago, Marie-Michèle Côté received a letter telling her that her family doctor was abandoning her patients for another professional activity related to aesthetic care. Since then, she has been waiting to be assigned a new one.
Marie-Michèle Côté
▪ Quebec
▪ Two children aged 16 months and nine years
▪ Without a doctor for three years
“It was a slap in the face. As a patient, we speak to our family doctor, we need to listen. It’s a mourning to lose this safety net,” says the mother of two children aged 16 months and nine years.
It was even more difficult as we had to start seeing doctors again in walk-in clinics.
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With the youngest entering daycare, things only got worse. “It’s an obstacle course to get an appointment at a medical clinic,” she says.
His trick: call the Info-Santé line in the middle of the night to hope to get a nurse on the phone more quickly.
little hope
According to her, other health professionals could be called upon to treat certain minor ailments. She gives the example of ear infections or respiratory viruses.
Since September, she has had to deal with her boy’s ear infections on several occasions. At the end of her resources, she admits to having looked at advertisements for private medical clinics on the internet, but having given up.
“Financially, we do not have the means to use these resources on a regular basis,” she maintains.
Her family was registered with a group of doctors, but again, it was difficult to get an appointment at their affiliated clinic or get prompt care.
“Having an online date is like winning the lottery. We don’t feel any safer,” she says. The only appointments available are often within a few weeks, or even a few months.
Marie-Michèle Côté also does not know where her family is on the waiting list and has little hope of getting a doctor quickly.
“It’s going to be a big victory, but when will it come? I have no idea,” she concludes.