'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
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.