Physician shortage is now a crisis situation

The lack of health-care services for seniors is in crisis mode in the Oceanside area.

My parents’ Qualicum Beach GP is retiring his practice but has nobody to take over for his many patients. There are purportedly thousands in this prime tourist and retirement area without a primary-care physician, the vast majority of whom are elderly.

Who will monitor their various ailments? The elderly often have a variety of complex ailments and are prescribed any number of prescriptions, and my parents are no different.

Although my parents are not infirm per se, and are more than capable of living independently for a few more years, they do take several medications and have monthly blood tests. I need a spreadsheet to keep track of their numerous appointments with specialists.

Who will monitor their enormous health-care files, the result of years of careful documentation, referrals and test results? Who will refer them for physical or massage therapy, EKGs, ultrasounds or MRIs, and who will retain any such test result data and maintain a file? Who will assess whether additional appointments with specialists are required in Nanaimo, Victoria or Vancouver? Who will advocate for them to ensure their healthcare requirements are being met?

One option for the thousands of elderly without primary-care physicians in the Parksville/ Qualicum catchment area is to join the countless hordes who fill the uncomfortable plastic seats in crowded waiting rooms at the Oceanside Health Centre in Parksville. There, patients can wait up to six hours to be seen by a harried nurse or doctor to tend to a bladder or ear infection, a nasty cough or perhaps a fall.

The other option is to drive to Nanaimo Regional Hospital or head north to Campbell River Hospital and likely wait even longer before driving back home.

It angers me that those who are already frail and weakened are now inflicted with these added stresses and burdens.

The need for local GPs in Qualicum and Parksville is even more significant when you account for those who do not own a car, those who may no longer be permitted to drive, or those for whom driving longer distances is difficult and exhausting. How then are these elderly people to get to a the care facility in Parksville when there is limited public transportation?

One might rely on kindly neighbours occasionally, but it is not the long-term solution. Few have family nearby since so many of us reside elsewhere.

The Island has always had an aging population, and over the years, the number of residents over 65 has only grown — especially in the Oceanside area. So, too, over the years, has the government done increasingly less to provide adequate health care for seniors.

Home support is now privatized and available only for acute care. My grandparents were fortunate to have used its services before they moved into a retirement facility, extending their time in their own home by several years. Sadly, my parents do not qualify to receive the same types of services based on today’s revised, stringent criteria.

If you are a patient in crisis, home support might be able to assist you. However, there is no preventive care and no community support whatsoever for those with chronic issues or the many minor afflictions one associates with aging.

Those 65 and older paid taxes for decades into a grossly deteriorated health-care system that they can now no longer rely upon to serve their basic needs.

Oceanside has always been a tourist destination. The gorgeous scenery and small-town feel attract those from far and wide. Why, then, are there so few doctors? One would think they would be stampeding to move to the area and set up shop near the sandy beaches and plentiful golf courses. Surely, not everyone completing medical school opts for a career in orthopedics or plastic surgery. It is a conundrum.

With Canada’s aging population, we should be world leaders in gerontology, with B.C. at the helm.

Why are there so few places in the area for ultrasounds, MRIs or blood work? One would presume with the older population that these places would have more than enough clientele to keep such businesses afloat and prosperous.

The provincial government has neglected to provide for Oceanside for far too long; it is now in a crisis situation that requires immediate action. Hopefully, the NDP government can implement some remedies for those who require decent, well-monitored and properly co-ordinated health care. The status quo isn’t working and will only worsen if government neglect and apathy prevails.

We must ensure the oldest among us are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as they try to age as gracefully as they are able.

Joanne Hamilton lives in Whitby, Ont.