'People are burnt out': B.C. doctor says primary care needs to be revamped
The family doctor crisis in B.C. is growing as locals become increasingly concerned about their ability to access primary care.
About 20 per cent of people in B.C. don't have a doctor and Dr. Josh Greggain from Doctors of B.C. told CTV Morning Live Monday primary care in the province isn't "adequately serviced right now."
Greggain said he's hearing two main things from his colleagues in the field.
"The first one is people are burnt out, tired, it's the long pandemic," he said.
"Secondarily it's really around value. What is my time valued as? How can I provide the service to the patients that I'm able to and how can we continue to provide more service to the patients who are currently unattached, that don't have access to care."
Greggain said the province's fee-for-service model, which pays physicians for each visit, needs to be adjusted.
"I think the big conversation is around the fact that the … fee-for-service is antiquated so to try to upgrade that or update that to ensure patients get better care and that the family physicians have the opportunity to provide the time that is necessary," he said.
"It's not that this current model is completely broken, it needs revamping, it needs reconfiguring and significantly more resources."
Late last month, a desperate Vancouver Island family paid nearly $300 to take out an ad in the newspaper looking for a doctor to fill prescriptions.
A Victoria doctor did eventually respond to their ad, taking the senior couple on at her practice.
In a statement, B.C.'s Health Ministry said it knows "many people in the province are feeling the effects of the capacity challenges our health-care system is facing, and this individual is no different."
"We take the challenge seriously, and are working as efficiently as we can to improve primary care for people in B.C.," the statement said.
The family said in its ad even the wait for virtual care was months long.
Greggain said virtual care has provided access to communities that didn't previously have any, but it shouldn't replace in-person care altogether.
"We believe that virtual care is an adjunct to face-to-face care and there's absolutely opportunities for people to get novel or creative care … I think it's of paramount importance that virtual care is both here and here to stay," he said.
"We have to balance that against the opportunity to continue to provide in-person care when it's both necessary, when it's accessible and when it's required."
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Shannon Paterson
Watch the full interview with Dr. Josh Greggain in the video player above.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.