Editor:
I am truly very happy that Kevin Davis’s experience (Optimist, letters, Feb. 1) with our health care system went well, and that he is ok.
However, I think he missed the mark with his letter.
It is amazing to highlight the good experiences that people have with our health care system, however, to take one experience (especially when admitting they are fortunate to have a GP, and to be able to access them in a timely fashion), and make that the rational for saying the system is not that broken is downplaying a very serious situation.
We are very fortunate that we have had a recent influx of family physicians, and that people have come off our Fetch List, but there are still massive numbers of people who cannot access primary care (it was over 5,000 at one point - full disclosure, I do not have up-to-date numbers).
Our health care system is in significant crisis. Even those who have a GP can find it challenging to get in to see them in a timely fashion.
Without access to a primary care provider people are using the emergency department for issues that don’t need emergency care. We do not have an urgent care centre locally, and very limited options for walk-in clinics.
So, by all means, let’s celebrate when it goes well, but let’s not state the system is doing ok, when it clearly isn’t. It downplays the experiences that many people are having, it downplays the seriousness of lack-of-access to care, and it downplays the need for significant change in our health care system.
Heather Anderson
