The Quebec government is opening a private-for profit investor owned facility in Montreal, which the government says will alleviate wait times in clinics and emergency rooms. But with profits over patients, can we really trust a facility owned by shareholders seeking a profit to aid our healthcare system?
Local 514 looks into the rising trend of private for-profit healthcare, how it will affect doctor shortages and wait times, and the possible detrimental effects it will have on the care of patients. Montreal family Dr. Paul Saba and Canadian Doctors for Medicare board member Dr. Bernard Ho spoke with Local 514 about private clinics opening in Montreal and the rest of the country.
Montreal is experiencing an understaffed healthcare system, and with many workers leaving the public system to work in the private one, patients are experiencing long wait times for essential surgery or to be paired with a family doctor. These issues are province-wide, with lack of access to a family doctor one of the most notorious issues, with more than 800 thousand Quebeccers on a waitlist to be assigned a family doctor.
Last September, Quebec’s provincial government proposed opening two private clinics, in Montreal and Quebec City. Health Minister Christian Dubé said this would relieve emergency rooms on the Island of Montreal. The clinics are intended to be running by 2025.
Montrealers are eager for timely healthcare, in a province plagued by lack of access to a family doctor, long wait times in emergency rooms, difficulty obtaining appointments and clinics, and patients no longer accepted at walk-in clinics without an appointment.
Less than 70% of Montrealers have access to a family doctor, while 800 thousand in the province are without one. According to Quebec’s health department, as of February 2021, the average wait time to access a family doctor in Montreal was between 604 days and 862 days, but Local 514 has been in contact with multiple sources who have been waiting between 4 and 9 years to be paired with a family doctor.
If Montreal and the rest of the province moves towards relying on private clinics and healthcare workers, how will this affect provincial money?
Experts say that privatization will balloon costs.
Reports from last summer show that money Quebec has spent on private health-care workers has increased by 335% in the last 5 years. Due to labour shortages, the Ministry of Health and Social Services has been obligated to hire healthcare workers from the private sector.
Privatization is argued as a good method to alleviate long wait times, save money and increase the capacity of healthcare service.
With a private healthcare system, public dollars would then be reallocated towards a for-profit model. Dr. Ho says there is concern that these clinic's priority becomes profit rather than for patients.
Have you experienced delays accessing walk-in clinics? What do you think of the government relying on the private healthcare system? Let us know below in the comments.
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