'Short at least 37 physicians': Community raises concerns over family doctor shortage

When LaSalle resident Jacqueline Christmas needed a doctor to treat her sick grandchildren last week, there were no available appointments in her area.

“We called around for doctors and there were no doctors available,” Christmas said.

Christmas, who is unable to drive due to an injury, searched for a walk-in clinic nearby. She had to wait until the next day for an opening at an after-hours clinic.

“It was horrible because my grandson was already in a lot of pain,” she recalled.

“There was an extensive waiting list. When my daughter got to the clinic, there was already 10 people ahead of her and this was before they opened.”

Christmas says her family has not been able to find a family doctor since moving to LaSalle last fall.

She is among the 1.3 million Ontarians without a family physician.

“We are at least 37 physicians short, just in the Windsor, Riverside and Tecumseh areas,” said Dr. Vikesh Maraj, Essex County Medical Society president.

Dr. Maraj says there is a crisis in family medicine that is worsening with recent statistics giving a grim outlook.

“In the most recent residency match in Ontario and Canada, there were more than 200 family physician positions that went unfilled.”

One in five family physicians plans on retiring within the next five years, according to the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

“As older physicians retire it takes on average one and a half to two new grads to replace older physicians who have very large patient rosters because they've been seeing patients for decades,” he said.

Dr. Maraj adds the backlog caused by the pandemic means not only are doctors getting busier, but their jobs are also becoming more complex.

“Patients have not seen a physician for a while and they're often coming in much sicker than we would normally see them. It is not uncommon for patients to come in with multiple complaints.”

As more people rely on walk-in clinics to meet their medical needs, Canadian tech company Medimap is aiming to make the process easier by posting wait times online.

“A lot of these clinics close early for the day if they reached the cap for the number of patients that they can take,” explained Medimap CEO, Blake Adam. “You will be able to see so that info so you're not making the trip down to the clinic when they've actually closed for the day.”

The Medimap website promises real-time information for both in-person and virtual visits for local walk-in clinics.

As for what will cure the family doctor shortage, Dr. Miraj says there are several prescriptions like ramped up recruiting and prioritized funding.

“We do not see the resources flowing in as robustly as they are at other levels of medical practice. We need the funding to go toward the provision of team care.”

People looking for a family doctor are asked to visit the ESMS website for a directory of clinics accepting new patients.