ItB次元官网网址檚 a health care crisis that no community is immune to. Medical clinics have closed across Greater Victoria while the ranks of those without a family doctor continue to swell.

Saanich, the West Shore, James Bay have all seen clinics close their doors in recent months as the number of area residents without a family doctor reaches 100,000 and climbing.

B.C. Premier John Horgan says B.C.B次元官网网址檚 health care system is in crisis as the provinceB次元官网网址檚 efforts to recruit doctors and nurses to staff a network of urgent and primary care centres have not kept up with demand for services.

Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix struggled to defend the situation in the B.C. legislature this week, as opposition critics relayed horror stories from constituents unable to get into walk-in clinics and urgent care centres, even for simple things like renewing a prescription.

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Dix said the clinics and a rapid increase in phone and other remote services have increased the number of fee-for-service doctor visits, which pay the doctor about $30 per visit.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e transforming the system and moving B次元官网网址� yes, slowly B次元官网网址� away from the fee-for-service model,B次元官网网址� Dix told the legislature.

It canB次元官网网址檛 happen fast enough for at least one B.C. doctor.

ChilliwackB次元官网网址檚 Darren Joneson said there are more than 6,000 family doctors in B.C. but only half have community practices that accept patients. He believes the main issue is the provinceB次元官网网址檚 fee-for-service model, pointing to a few doctors who will see 50 patients in three hours.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not exaggerating that number, and that works out to about three minutes per patient,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hose doctors make more money than doctors who see 25 to 30 patients in a day, and are trying to provide the best care they can with the time theyB次元官网网址檙e given.B次元官网网址�

Those without family doctors who rely on walk-in clinics (Joneson calls it episodic care) are at risk of having things missed. That can be catastrophic for their health, and from a more callous dollars-and-cents point of view, itB次元官网网址檚 costlier for the health-care system.

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