This first-person column is the experience of Shannon Filman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information on CBC’s First Person Stories, please click here See the FAQ.
After a few difficult years in my personal life, I decided to pack my bags and move from Regina, where I was born and raised my daughter to Kelowna, BC, the move felt like an opportunity for healing and growth.
I secured a nice little place to stay and checked the other boxes that should be done during relocation. Changing my driver’s license gave me a BC Health Card.
In Saskatchewan, I had a family doctor. Even though there were sometimes months-long waits to see him, I felt like I had a safety net as someone who had lived with anxiety disorders all his life.
As a Canadian moving to another province, I thought that access to health care would follow me wherever I lived.
But after arriving in Okanagan in 2021, I was dismayed to learn that no family doctors were accepting new patients. I searched 100 miles in all directions from Kelowna and could not find a doctor who would take new patients.
I quickly learned how severe the medical shortage was in the Okanagan.
I was told that I would be put on a waiting list that could be years long and that I would be notified if a family doctor was available. Meanwhile, I have to rely on authorized clinics for any prescriptions or medical issues.
There were two major problems with this. First, most of the walk-ins I met reached capacity within an hour of opening. Second, when I finally got an appointment with a walk-in doctor, I was told that only my family doctor could fill my anxiety medication. Which family doctor?
A recent Canadian Medical Association report found that 5.8 million Canadians lack access to primary care. Even those who have family doctors say they don’t have enough access to them.
My only option was to go to an urgent care center. It is a walk-in clinic that bridges the gap between primary care and emergency rooms in BC
Since I was not in an active emergency, I was at the bottom of the waiting list and spent many hours waiting in urgent care to get my monthly prescription refilled.
About a year into my time in Kelowna, I asked during my visit how I could get a Pap test and get some basic blood work done—things I would get through a family doctor, if only I had one.
I’ve always taken care of my own health, so the question didn’t make me uncomfortable. What made me uncomfortable was the nurse’s attitude. She explained that the center is for urgent care and not for preventive care.
I feel like I’m asking too much. But how was someone without a family doctor expected to have access to primary preventive medical care? Finally, the nurse reluctantly recorded my Pap test after I told her I had an abnormal Pap test in the past. I left that day feeling humiliated and worthless.
It became clear to me that universal health care in Canada doesn’t work universally when you don’t have a family doctor. While care may be available in theory, without a family doctor, care is inconsistent.
A new survey shows more Canadians have a family doctor than three years ago, but large gaps remain in accessing timely or regular care.
This experience also highlighted a larger systemic issue. When people do not have access to family doctors, they are referred to emergency rooms and urgent care centers for non-urgent needs. This contributes to overcrowding and long ER wait times.
Two years later, I moved to Central Alberta for work to be closer to family. To my surprise, I was able to find a family doctor within a few weeks – actually my choice of several.
My new doctor in Red Deer, Alta., completed a thorough medical history and took my concerns seriously. He noted my strong family risk for breast cancer and ordered a mammogram for an early diagnosis. My appointment was booked in a few weeks. He also referred me to two other specialists, both of whom I saw quickly and who follow me regularly.
Without a family doctor, I don’t believe I would have had such effective medical care to manage my health care.
Still, I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t need emergency services in Alberta. I read the news that The emergency room in my town is under pressure and patients are being transferred to Edmonton – Assuming these hospitals have room for them. Doctors in Alberta have asked the province to declare a state of emergency over emergencies affecting emergency rooms. Across the country, it’s the same picture.
I worry when this pressure of overcrowding will trickle down to primary care.
When I talk to friends and family in Saskatchewan, I realize that their medical system is also under pressure, just like I experienced in BC.
My former family doctor in Regina, who is my daughter’s doctor, sent out a notice to close his clinic, affecting 5,000 patients. He still hasn’t been able to secure a new family doctor, which puts him at risk of receiving the same fragmented care I received in Kelowna.
Canada’s health care system is often praised for being universal, but my experiences at S4X, V1Y and T4P suggest otherwise. After living in three cities in three provinces for five years, I noticed how my geographic location did not change my zip code.
It also affected the type and quality of health care I received. Going forward, I hope to use my voice to advocate not only for myself but for a system that truly works for all Canadians.
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