Doctor checking elderly person's blood pressure.iStockphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Need a family doctor in Victoria? For now, a walk-in clinic is the only prescription. Since December, no family doctors in Greater Victoria have been accepting new patients, according to the Victoria Medical Society.
"There's a panic right now," said Jo Ann Dubney, administrator of the society, a resource for physicians that also maintains a list of doctors taking on new patients. "It's the first time I've seen that," the five-year employee added.
Reasons for the deficit include retirements, new doctors preferring to work part time, sicker and older patients who need more care, and medical-school graduates choosing specialties rather than family practice. The Victoria area has about 300 family doctors in all health-care settings serving 360,000 people, 18 per cent of whom are aged 65 or older.
Ms. Dubney's phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from anxious, angry and ill people hoping she can tell them someone is taking new patients.
"People are devastated. Some are very sick. They have no one to give their records to."
Some have finished cancer treatment and need follow-up care; others have seriously ill children.
One group of distressed patients was "orphaned" after a young doctor set up a practice but returned to his home province after six months, Ms. Dubney said.
His was one of eight offices that disappeared in 2010. And the 2011 prognosis isn't rosy.
Three physicians are very sick and struggling to keep their practices open, Ms. Dubney said. Two offices are due to close by February, and two doctors who want to retire but can't find replacements may soon pack it in.
The Victoria area has about 14 walk-in clinics. Staff at the Tillicum Mall Medical Clinic, open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, are constantly asked whether any of the seven doctors are accepting new patients, said medical assistant Cathy Doyle.
Patients can see one of the clinic's doctors, but it would be better for them to have care from one doctor who can get to know them, she said.
Sharon Sam and her six-week-old daughter were among the 10 patients waiting at the clinic this month. Ms. Sam recently moved to Victoria from Sechelt, and has several health concerns.
"I'm pretty worried. My baby needs shots. I still need to see a doctor," she said. "I'll keep coming to the clinic. I have no choice."
Marc Forget and Veronique Gagnon moved to British Columbia five years ago from Alberta and got a family doctor only a few months ago - after much pleading. The doctor was willing to take them on because they were healthy.
Mr. Forget, who said he pays $70 a month in health premiums, called it a "complete sham" that no doctors in Victoria are taking patients.
"I've travelled around the world; You get better care in Thailand," he said.
The shortage hasn't gone unnoticed by the provincial government.
In 2002, 128 students graduated from the University of British Columbia's medical school. The province promised to increase that number. In 2007, there were 256 graduates, and 288 are expected this year.
All of those graduates do residencies, either in family practice, which takes two years, or in specialties such as dermatology, which require four to seven more years of training.
In 2010, only 33 per cent of graduates opted for family-practice residencies. In 2009, it was 31 per cent, and in 2008 it was 40 per cent.
Since 2002, the General Practice Services Committee has been working to boost pay and increase support for family doctors, said William Cavers, co-chair of the committee and a family physician in Victoria since 1981.
But even if richer fees lead more doctors to family practice, many local doctors will soon be retiring in significant numbers. Their patients are also hitting 65, a demographic that will place a heavy burden on fewer doctors, Dr. Cavers said.
Today's patients are also more informed, and therefore some are more demanding. The number of people with chronic problems, such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes is also growing.
Add to this the fact that many of the graduates, both men and women, limit their work house because they want extra personal or family time, Dr. Cavers said. Even with more graduates, there won't be enough medical muscle to deal with the need.
"How can we retire if there's no one to take our place?" wondered the 59-year-old.
Special to The Globe and Mail