Daughter has been sick for five days. She is coughing and her throat hurts. After having tried numerous medicines, syrups, soups, teas, supplements and of course lots of sleep, she is still no better. I think it is time to admit defeat. It is time to take her to see a doctor. Easier said than done, even here in what is supposedly the "best country in the world."
Daughter doesn't have a doctor. That means that when she gets sick, we have to go over our options, none of which are very practical.
Most orphans (people who don't have family doctors) go to the Emergency Room (ER) when they get sick. There, a person can wait anywhere from 12 to over 24 hours to see a doctor, on a good day. On a bad day, you would add about an hour or so of wait time every time you see an ambulance pull up. But you can't even complain about this. The ER staff are doing the best that they can with their limited resources. And, let's face it, a sore throat is at the bottom of the list when people with heart attacks, broken arms, allergy attacks, overdoses and other serious emergency situations are also waiting. So, the ER is not the option of choice for someone who is "just sick."
The second option is to go to a walk-in clinic. There are several of these in our city, but I have never had much luck with them. In order to be seen by a doctor, one has to get there and stand in line super early. Whenever I have attempted it, by the time I got to the clinic I was told that the waiting list was full for the day. So a walk-in clinic is a doable option when people are able to get in line before 7 am, but I usually have three kids to drop off at school before I am free to queue. With Daughter sick, the earliest we can drop the boys off at school is 7 am, so I think the clinic option is out. We won't even attempt it.
Option number three is to go to a clinic in Ontario, where our Québec health insurance card is not accepted so we have to pay up-front, but we do get a partial refund from Québec if we send in our receipt and the proper forms. Also, the wait time is measured in few hours, giving us the hope that we will be in and out before the boys' after school care closes at 5:45. I have gone this route before. It was handy once when I had an ear infection and needed antibiotics. But the second time I went in, complaining of shortness of breath, coughing, fever and generally feeling icky, the doctor sent me home and told me to get plenty of rest and fluids. Four days later I was in the ER with a severe pneumonia that kept me hospitalized for ten days, followed by months of convalescence. So I vowed never to go to one of those clinics again. The doctor never even listened to my lungs. He just wanted me in and out as quickly as possible so he could collect my $65 and go on to the next patient. I want Daughter to have better care than that, so that clinic is out of the question. (I should mention that I don't think all Ontario clinics are this bad, but the ones I have access to - the Appletree Medical Center group - are more about profits than they are about health care, in my opinion.)
The last option, which is the one I finally opted for when I had that very severe pneumonia, is the one that I choose today for Daughter. We will go to an ER, but not here in Gatineau, where all the hospitals have notoriously long waiting lists. Instead, I will drive Daughter 30 minutes out of town to the city of Wakefield, where there is a small regional hospital whose staff took very good care of me when I was sick. If we are lucky, we will only have to wait a few hours before Daughter gets seen.
There has been debate in Canada about privatizing health care, while in the US they have moved in the opposite direction, offering free health care to low-income people who can't afford the private facilities. As far as I am concerned, I can't rely on our government to give my family free health care. The only reason I have a doctor is that the hospital got me one (helping me circumvent the usual waiting lists) because they simply couldn't discharge me without assuring me some follow-up care. And the doctor I got, although he does more or less follow my progress, won't agree to treat my daughter.
If I could afford to, I would go to a private doctor's clinic. I wouldn't mind paying extra for quality care. I understand that doctors would rather work in private clinics than go to work in public ones for less pay and even worse working conditions. The problem is, I am low-income and I can't afford to take my kids to a private clinic. And, frankly, I shouldn't have to. We have free health care in Canada. We just don't have enough of it. I wish we had political leaders who are able to better prioritize what is needed. The Canadian public service is facing huge budget cuts right now. In my humble opinion, nothing is going to result from these layoffs except more unemployed public servants. I really doubt it will make a difference in the long run. Then the government will use unemployment as a reason to not invest in health care, because the funds will be needed to create jobs. I am just one little person. I am not a politician. I do vote, but honestly I wonder if we will ever climb out of this hole our health care services are in. In my opinion, we won't get anywhere while our politicians' decisions are based on influential big corporations' "needs."
Rant over. Forgive me. I just had to let my frustration out somewhere. It is a terrible feeling to feel so helpless in trying to get my daughter in to see a doctor. And I live in Canada, a country that touts itself as "the best in the world." I truly feel for people in third-world countries who do not have access to health care. I remain convinced that in Canada this is all a question of priorities.
There has been debate in Canada about privatizing health care, while in the US they have moved in the opposite direction, offering free health care to low-income people who can't afford the private facilities. As far as I am concerned, I can't rely on our government to give my family free health care. The only reason I have a doctor is that the hospital got me one (helping me circumvent the usual waiting lists) because they simply couldn't discharge me without assuring me some follow-up care. And the doctor I got, although he does more or less follow my progress, won't agree to treat my daughter.
If I could afford to, I would go to a private doctor's clinic. I wouldn't mind paying extra for quality care. I understand that doctors would rather work in private clinics than go to work in public ones for less pay and even worse working conditions. The problem is, I am low-income and I can't afford to take my kids to a private clinic. And, frankly, I shouldn't have to. We have free health care in Canada. We just don't have enough of it. I wish we had political leaders who are able to better prioritize what is needed. The Canadian public service is facing huge budget cuts right now. In my humble opinion, nothing is going to result from these layoffs except more unemployed public servants. I really doubt it will make a difference in the long run. Then the government will use unemployment as a reason to not invest in health care, because the funds will be needed to create jobs. I am just one little person. I am not a politician. I do vote, but honestly I wonder if we will ever climb out of this hole our health care services are in. In my opinion, we won't get anywhere while our politicians' decisions are based on influential big corporations' "needs."
Rant over. Forgive me. I just had to let my frustration out somewhere. It is a terrible feeling to feel so helpless in trying to get my daughter in to see a doctor. And I live in Canada, a country that touts itself as "the best in the world." I truly feel for people in third-world countries who do not have access to health care. I remain convinced that in Canada this is all a question of priorities.
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