This week, our editorial cartoonist Ingrid Rice takes aim at the current family doctor shortage in B.C.
According to Family Doctors for Better Patient Care, in B.C., there are 6,800 trained family doctors in the province, but only about 3,500 work in that role.
At least one retiring doctor says the system is set up in a way that makes it costly for physicians to become family doctors. It rewards them for working in a drop-in clinic or hospital instead, Dr. Peter Vizsolyi told the Times Colonist.
One desperate couple on Vancouver Island went so far as to take out a newspaper advertisement to find a family doctor.
This is something B.C. Premier John Horgan said he may also take out an advertisement to convince the federal government that the province needs more health care funding.
