It is no secret to most locals that there is a doctor shortage in Squamish and beyond.
This data just confirms the pressure on the system.
According to health tech company Medimap's data, patients in Squamish had to wait an average of 80 mins to see a doctor at the Squamish walk-in clinic in 2022.
And that is nothing compared to what folks wait in North Vancouver, which had the highest wait times in B.C. at 160 minutes on average.
But this isn't a Sea to Sky issue alone.
On average, British Columbians had to wait 79 minutes to see a physician at a walk-in clinic in 2022, which is 21 minutes longer than in 2021 and 36 minutes longer than in 2020. It is also over two times longer than the national average of 37 minutes.
Those of us in B.C. had to wait, on average, more than triple the amount of time to see a physician at a walk-in clinic, compared with patients in Ontario who waited an average of 25 minutes.
The wait at Victoria walk-in clinics was 137 minutes, the second worst in B.C.
The average wait time in Vancouver was 71 minutes, while Richmond, Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Surrey were among the cities in B.C. with the shortest wait times.
Released on Feb. 6, the Medimap Walk-in Clinic Wait Time Index, uses data collected from the roughly 70% of Canadian walk-in clinics that use the company’s software to show waiting times online.
The company, which operates in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia, was founded by University of Victoria graduates Blake Adam and Jonathan Clark in 2016.
Teddy Wickland, vice president of operations for Medimapp, said what surprised him about the data this year is that the situation hasn't gotten better over time.
"We've been doing this survey since 2019, and every year, the wait times get worse. They were not great in 2019, but they were much more manageable. And then, when COVID happened in 2020, I think that really took a problem that already existed and just accelerated it. And we've just seen wait times increase pretty dramatically, year over year," he said.
"Obviously, there's a lot of things that the government and the private sector are trying to do to support patients [and] support clinicians to reduce the wait times, but they're clearly not having the material impact, at least not yet."
Wickland acknowledged there is no quick fix to the healthcare woes patients, Canadian patients, particularly those in B.C., are experiencing.
"Unfortunately, what we've heard — and we've heard this nationally, but definitely more so in B.C.— is a lot of doctors are getting out of family medicine or getting out of the walk-in clinic business. Some of them have decided to retire early. I think, largely because of the burnout from the pandemic. Some of them have decided to switch specialties altogether."
He thinks virtual doctor appointments could be used more.
"I think it gets sort of a bad rap from policymakers, because they want the perfect scenario where a patient gets a family doctor, and they work with that family doctor for their whole life, and they manage all that care. And most of it's done in-person. That's a great story. But the reality is we don't have enough family doctors to do that. And so I would say we should be doing more with technology and more through telemedicine to take some of the strain off of the in-person care that's already being delivered. That seems like a no-brainer to me. But again, something that hasn't been widely adopted."
He pointed to what B.C. has announced recently as giving some hope for wait times to be reduced.
What is the provincial government doing?
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said it is aware that Medimap has produced a report listing wait times for walk-in clinics across the country.
“It’s important to note that not every clinic in the province publishes their wait times on the Medimap website," the spokesperson said.
“Medimap is a private for-profit company and their data only shows select clinic wait times."
To increase access to primary care, the Ministry has introduced a new payment model, a new physician master agreement, financial support and new-to-practice contracts for recent graduates and the future construction of a new medical school, the spokesperson said.
As of Feb. 1, the new Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) payment model comes into effect for family physicians. "The new model supports the province’s primary care strategy, meets the needs of doctors, and ensures patients have access to the care they need," the spokesperson said.
The provincial government also recently announced some new incentives, including student loan forgiveness, being offered to family medicine residents and recent new-to-practice (NTP) family physicians, including International Medical Graduates.
"These incentives are intended to help promote full-service, longitudinal primary care for those residents and recent new-to-practice physicians who may be interested," the spokesperson said.
As of Jan. 14, 104 NTP contracts have been signed provincewide.
“This positions B.C. as a nationwide leader in family doctor compensation," the spokesperson said.
“In addition, we recently announced significant expansions of pathways to licensure for internationally trained physicians that will improve community-based healthcare delivery in British Columbia."
The spokesperson said the government's expansion of the Practice Ready Assessment program, which is a way for internationally educated family physicians to be licensed to practice in B.C., will "ensure more foreign doctors work in community health settings as part of the government's primary care strategy."
The program will triple from 32 seats to 96 seats.
Half of all graduates from the PRA program will serve in rural communities through return of service agreements.
The other half will be placed in priority Primary Care Networks and may be assigned to a Community Health Centre within the network.
The government has also introduced “Associate Physicians,” a new class of registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSBC ) that provides a route for international medical graduates, who are not eligible for licensure as independent medical practitioners, to care for patients under the direction and supervision of an attending physician within a health authority acute-care setting.
"We are working with CPSBC to expand the scope of the new class, so more associate physicians can work in community-based primary care settings over the coming months," the spokesperson said, adding the government is introducing a new restricted class of licensure that will allow physicians trained in the United States for three years to practice medicine in community settings.
"We also fund UBC residency positions that are protected for international medical graduates."
The IMG-BC program at UBC has expanded from six annual entry positions in 2003 to 58 today, 52 of which are in family medicine.
“We have made serious strides in building the health care workforce required to staff our primary care strategy," the spokesperson said.
“But we know the work isn’t over, and we’ll continue delivering for people in B.C., ensuring everyone has the access to the quality primary health care they deserve.”
~With files from Cindy E. Harnett/ Victoria Times Colonist
