Local woman says finding a family doctor feels tougher for those who are older

Finding a family doctor has been an ongoing issue for many in B.C. and one woman feels it may be tougher for those who are older.

Vanessa Heard, a 73-year-old from Langley, was left looking for a family doctor when hers retired without much notice. She visited a local clinic after being informed by a friend that it was accepting new patients. She says the clinic was advertised as a family clinic. However, she says when she inquired, she was told the clinic only accepted younger patients as the doctor specializes in children.

“It doesn’t matter what age you are. You need to feel safe, genuinely cared for,” Heard said.

She looked into two other clinics and was only able to register with a walk-in clinic.

“We haven’t since tried to find a family doctor because we don’t know what to do, whether to put our names down on a list or whether to just go into an emergency if we need to do,” she said.

Heard says both she and her husband Peter are thankfully still healthy.

Heard notes when she posted about her experience on social media, many others pointed out they too were having a hard time finding a family doctor.

“Based on what other people are saying, there is an indication that it’s more difficult for us to find the health care we need,” her husband Peter said.

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In a statement, Calvin Simpson from the Ministry of Health says “increasing access to primary care services is a key priority.”

“More recently, we have undertaken significant reforms to increase our supply of family physicians, including reducing barriers for internationally trained physicians looking to practice in British Columbia, expanding undergraduate and residency seats at the UBC Faculty of Family Medicine and providing new-to-practice incentives to encourage resident and recent graduate physicians to embark upon a career in family medicine,” Simpson said.

Simpson says the ministry encourages seniors and other patients seeking primary care to visit one of the many urgent and primary care centres in Metro Vancouver. Patients can also call 811, a free-of-charge provincial health information and advice phone available in B.C.

Heard says she would like to see family doctors have more time to spend with their patients without feeling pressured.

“I’m still without a family doctor but at least I have a little sense of security knowing that I am registered with a walk-in clinic,” Heard said.