Canadian woman, 96, puts ad in newspaper to find general practice doctor
A 96-year-old Canadian woman was so exasperated with the glacial pace of her nation's universal healthcare system — she posted a wanted ad in her local newspaper to find a primary care doctor.
'I am apparently somewhere in the 80,000's in the physician waiting list, and so time is increasingly of the essence,' retired fourth-grade teacher Dorothy Lamont 's wrote in her classified ad titled 'Seeking a Physician' in the May 23 edition of the Halifax Chronicle Herald in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
3 Lamont, 96, put an ad in the newspaper as a last resort.
Courtesy of Stewart Lamont
'I am 96 years old, of sound mind and body relative to my advanced age, and have been without a physician for nearly three years,' it reads.
An estimated 6.5 million Canadians — more than 1 in 5 — lack access to a family doctor through the country's government funded health care system. They're left on a waiting list for when the next practitioner becomes available — sometimes waiting years.
Lamont's last five physicians either retired or left the province — leaving her with a virtual MD, which she said doesn't cut it.
'We have never met,' her ad says about her current doctor. 'By definition we never will.'
'Frankly it would be helpful once or twice a year to see a doctor in person,' Lamont said, adding she didn't want to burden the health care system or her family.
Her son, Stewart, convinced her to go the unconventional route after they exhausted all other options.
3 The ad 'Seeking a Physician' was placed in the classified section of the local paper.
Courtesy of Stewart Lamont
Lamont wound up in the hospital for a couple weeks last year with a bout of sciatica, and when she was sent home, she didn't have anyone to follow up with.
'It's a sad news story that, you know — does a 96-year-old woman really have to post an ad to draw publicity to herself to get a family physician?' her son lamented to The Post.
'This isn't to be political. … It was simply to draw awareness and see if this would produce a doctor,' he said. 'People have to be creative — challenging times require resourceful responses.'
3 Lamont found a doctor who will start seeing her next month at the Dartmouth Medical Centre.
Courtesy of Stewart Lamont
Their Yankee ingenuity has already paid off.
'Lo and behold, 48 hours later, we've had three or four options, and one is signed and delivered now,' said Stewart Lamont.
'I was left speechless,' he added. 'My mother is pleased.'
The Great White North currently has around 46,000 family physicians, and a recent study by Health Canada found that another 23,000 would be needed for every Canadian to have a primary care doctor.
One of the reasons for the doctor shortage is that many doctors leave for better paying jobs in the US.
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