[context](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/world/canada/nurse-shortage-emergency-rooms.html)
> With an underfunded public health system, Canada already has some of the longest health care wait times in the world, but now those have grown even longer, with patients reporting spending multiple days before being admitted to a hospital.
Things like:
* people unable to make appointments
* people going without care to the ER
* Long wait times for necessary surgeries
* no open beds for hundreds per hospital
* people without access to family doctor
> In British Columbia, a province where almost one million people do not have a family doctor, there were about a dozen emergency room closures in rural communities in August.
Is this the case in your American state as well?
47 comments
Yes. My daughters’ pediatrician stopped taking their insurance, and the wait time for the new one is a month out, but they don’t schedule appointments that far in advance. You just have to call every day and see if there’s an opening.
We are not experiencing that, no. One of the benefits of privatized Healthcare (obviously many drawbacks exist that I’m sure everyone is aware of by now). Closest thing is that certain rural communities are facing hospital closures so people need to drive farther to get to one if they live in one of those communities.
Not for me in NC. If I need to see my family doctor, it’s just a few days wait. I needed a followup CT last month, was only about ten days between my Dr referring me and actually getting the CT scan.
My prescriptions have been a pain, but that’s because Walgreens has become a clusterfuck of incompetence, was easily fixed by switching pharmacies.
Not across the country but there is a major shortage in rural areas. Here’s a website about it: https://ruralhospitals.chqpr.org/Overview.html#The_Crisis_Facing_Rural_Healthcare
oh and also, of course
>people unable to make appointments
>people going without care to the ER
happens every day, if you don’t have health insurance you probably can’t afford to pay out of pocket, and so you delay care until it’s an emergency and then it’s off to the ER.
For me personally though I don’t live too far from the largest medical complex in the world so I am not too worried about specialists and stuff. Too, I have plenty of money and also health insurance. The situation is not so good for people without those things.
Not in my experience.
Some things are taking longer. They are trying to catch up after Covid. Urgent Care is pretty immediate. ER’s have always taken a long time if it isn’t a true emergency.
That is not an issue where I’m from, usually the exact opposite.
Without getting political, what you are describing is why groups of people with good healthcare in the US will often oppose universal healthcare.
No, the biggest issue we have at the moment is a lack of private care doctors. It’s hard to get a new doctor and appointments, but it’s not *that* bad. You wait a few weeks to get an appt as a new patient, that’s all.
Hospitals are doing ok, an ER won’t see you instantly but you won’t wait days. I had to get an appendix out I was in surgery within 2 hours of getting to the ER.
I haven’t seen this issue at all in the north east where I’m living, I think other people have said this – and I have talked about this with my fiancé who is British, where they also experience waitlists with the NHS, and although care can be very expensive in the US, which is arguably a huge drawback even with insurance, we typically can get immediate care for majority of things
That hasn’t been my experience yet.
I don’t know why people want free healthcare. We have that veterans health care thing and the veterans have to wait forever to get it. I feel like we need to find options to make it cheaper.
Yes. Out of the 5 medical professionals in our life — 5 have retired during Covid!
I have no doctor and neither does my husband and cant find anyone taking new patients. Someone is covering for my kid’s pediatrician – but it’s impossible to get an appointment.
When I called this month to the care team I usually go to they advised to go to the ER and call back in November.
I have not seen it that bad, but there is a shortage of healthcare providers.
I don’t know anybody experiencing these issues.
I know hospitals are still really struggling with staffing issues though.
Recently my wife needed to see a doctor, we drove to the instant care clinic, we were seen within 30 minutes of arriving, and only payed a $10 copay with insurance. If you have good insurance, the US system is really good.
All good where I’m from.
There’s issues but many are different.
Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate. It can be a long time to see a specialist at a rural hospital, who may only be there once a month.
In Indiana healthcare companies don’t have to prove a medical need before constructing a facility. This has led to a lot of premium hospitals in the affluent northern Indianapolis burbs.
Staffing issues burnout from COVID-19 is a real thing.
It can be a bureaucratic pain in the ass to get on as a new patient between insurance referrals and internal rules of any individual hospital system
We have a crisis, but it’s not that one. Medical care for the most part is extremely expensive and is getting more expensive every year even with insurance (because of insurance.) Some experts are predicting a collapse to happen soon.
A good friend of mine had covid and was prescribed a steroid to help with one of his issues. It costed him nearly $300 *with* insurance, which is absolutely insane.
My biggest issue with my health insurance, medicaid from the state of Michigan, is finding doctors who accept it.
When I do find a doctor who accepts it, I can get seen in a pretty reasonable amount of time. For example, for months, I was having extreme lower abdominal pain this past Summer. Called around, found a OBGYN that took my insurance, and got an appointment for early the next week.
But I haven’t bee able to find a dentist in over 5 years that takes the insurance and no optometrist within 25 miles of me takes my type of medicaid. So I’ve had to pay out of pocket for all my eye care while in college. Thankfully, Walmart saved the day with a 65 buck eye exam and you buy glasses online for cheap.
Nope. Despite all the memes you see about our healthcare it’s not nearly as bad here. I went to my family doctor without an appointment a week or two ago, I was in and out within 20 minutes. My co worker just had surgery and he didn’t have to wait long.
I haven’t personally experienced this. Last time I went to the ER, I got admitted within 10 minutes of arrival, saw a doctor about 15 minutes later. I didn’t have to wait for a bed. I got a CT Scan the same day. Went home after six hours, saw a urologist the next day. I have the same primary care doctor I had in childhood, so I haven’t needed to go looking one. Can’t really comment on it.
There is a doctor shortage in certain fields, it’s takes months to get a dermatologist appointment, and yearly check ups with a gynecologist better be scheduled as you are leaving your last one. I live in a fast growing city.
I can get my kids in same day with their doctor if they are sick. I just go to urgent care, which can be a bit of a crapshoot, with providers being great or really not so great, but I’ve never waited more than 45 minutes for a doctor to actually see me.
Not at all. The American health care crisis is almost entirely focused on cost of care.
Other than cost problems (which are huge), access is fine. Some places specialists have a long wait, but even then if it’s urgent, you normally get prioritized.
Not at all. I posted this about a month ago regarding a recent doctor’s visit:
> I wasn’t feeling well over the weekend and with my primary care doctor closed for the weekend I walked into a City MD. They scanned my drivers license which brought up all my info. I waited for about five minutes, saw the doctor, he prescribed an antibiotic, cough syrup, and nasal spray. I then drove a mile down the road, went to the CVS drive-thru, and picked up my prescription.
> All in all it was about a half an hour of my time, no money was exchanged, I won’t be billed, etc. In short, it was a pretty typical doctor’s visit yet Reddit acts like Americans spend their lives stepping over dead bodies because we don’t have national healthcare.
What Canadians refer to as “super hospitals” we call hospitals. The world has long ridiculed our system, and it certainly has its faults, but the fact that people still have to pay for their healthcare here is the reason that we don’t have to wait 6 months for an MRI, etc.
Oh look! Its almost like Canada health system has issues too
Yesterday I made an appointment for a routine eye exam. I got an appointment as soon as possible. March 2023.
My annual wellness exam (physical checkup) is always a three month wait.
My annual wellness exam (physical checkup) is always a three-month wait.
We have seen longer wait times especially in underserved rural areas but it is nowhere near as bad as what I have heard/read out of Canada.
Where I live it has been business as usual. My wife had to go to urgent care and then see a physical therapist during the height of Covid. No issues or delays.
I had to get a rabies vaccine series because I got bit by a dog hiking in the early summer. I just showed up for each shot the day they needed to give the shots. Maybe a ten minute wait each time if not essentially immediate.
My son needed ear tubes and I think we had to wait a week for the minor surgery and he got in to his pediatrician to get the diagnosis and referral within just two days.
A family member elsewhere in the country had to get an MRI for a broken fibula. She got it in two days. She got surgery a week and a half after that. Physical therapy started a week after the surgery.
From what I hear that is all way faster than Canada right now.
Its a different crisis because Healthcare is unaffordable for many. It’s available though
Not at all. Even when traveling through all the states west of the Rocky Mountains (not to long ago) with my best friend who had a slew of medical issues had no issue making last minute appointments, going to the ER or planning an appointment 2 weeks out from our arrival to a new city.
There’s a lot wrong with our medical system, but being able to see a doctor when ever you want is not one of them.
No, sometimes there is a wait for regular family doctor appointments simply because they get busy with a lot of patients booking so they may not have an opening, but usually you only have to wait a couple weeks or you can do an online virtual appointment if you want to be seen sooner.
It varies for a number of reasons, for example rural vs urban. For me, it’s the insurance carrier. I switched to a different insurer. They require a primary physician. My previous doctor was not in their network. When I called for an appointment as a new patient, I was given 4 month wait times. I needed a long term med refilled and couldn’t wait that long. I was desperate.
So the benefit of the US system is that’s fairly rare, hospitals are for profit, so if they are too busy they just charge more, either people stop coming because they can’t afford it or they come and pay something obscene. That also means it’s a lot easier for hospitals to attract talent, they will have the money.
I think in general, the price of an ER visit causes a lot of people to just not seek care, and that generally reduces wait times. Also, where I am, the walk in places are doing good, and I think that helps a lot (essentially they are places with a few doctors, and they don’t do any regularly scheduled appointments, just 100% sick and injured people that are not bad enough to justify an ER visit).
Also, we do have long wait times for specialists. When my son was under 1 I think we did some specialists appointments, they averaged 3-6 months for an appointment.
I’m an American living in Canada and working as a doctor. This is primarily an urban/suburban/rural thing, just like in the States. Rural, sparsely populated areas are underserved and will experience longer wait times for routine checkups and non-emergent specialist visits. Same with very densely populated areas where the patient to physician ratio is very high. Suburban areas get by the best.
There is a doctor shortage in Canada, like in many countries. But wait times in the ER are overblown. Yes, you may wait a little longer in the waiting room to have your kidney stone addressed while the person in front of you has chest pain. However, you also won’t be stuck with a $1,000 bill either.
As a physician and as a patient, all things considered, I prefer the Canadian system. Though it certainly has its weaknesses, too. It’s not the idyllic perfection that some on the left believe it is. But being able to see your doctor without it interfering with your finances really outweighs all of that for most people. Not having to worry how you’ll cover yourself if you get laid off, etc.
No we’re not having problems this bad.
In Miami it’s sorta cray actually. My boyfriend had to see like three different doctors (two specialist or general) and it took him an entire 3 months to see all three because of how busy they were.
I’ve also had some experience with long wait times for appointments in the same city. We were both in Miami at the time. Never to the extent of not receiving care at an ER or Urgent care though.
Although these long wait times might be specific to Miami. I was told by doctors in Miami they’ve been absolutely flooded with work this past summer. I’m in Tallahassee now and I don’t have any issues.
I haven’t run into it, though there are some bizarre things that are taking forever.
For example, I had to get an appointment for a Genetic consultation (which can be done over video chat and only takes about half an hour) and for some reason the closest appointment was 4-5 months out.
But if I were to call my Primary Care Physician right now I could probably get an appointment in a few days. I could walk over to the urgent care right now and get seen in less than an hour.
The current wait time at my closest ER right now is 12 minutes.
Weird. From all the “AMeRicA hAs tERRibLe heaLtHCaRE” sentiment on social media I woulda thought Canada had superior healthcare systems.
Another example of other countries ignoring their own problems and instead just bashing America for ours?
I mean, aside from the fact that medical bills are the reason for over 50% of bankruptcies? Not that I have noticed.
I live in a rural area even, and I haven’t had any issues. The local hospital even has a “walk in” non-ER system where you can see a PA on the same day, without the egregious ER fees. If I want to see “my” doctor (but again, a PA…that is one thing, no one seems to see actual doctors any more, it’s all PAs), it’s just a couple days wait to get an appointment with them.
Human medical care seems to be ok from my perspective, but animal is a different story. My cat has been at the same vet for 7 years, I just called to make her an appointment a few days ago. Just a year ago if I made an appointment she’d be able to see the vet usually within 72 hours, often times same day if necessary. The earliest I could schedule this appointment was for December. DECEMBER!
No way is the US as bad in Canada. What you’re describing is pretty much true in Montreal too, not just BC.
I have “good” insurance and the earliest appointment I could get with an allergist who is in network within 50 miles of my house is in February of 2023.
Nah but I’m in NYC so I can only speak for there. My knee started hurting, I have an appt with a specialist Tuesday. I made it this morning. Can do imaging whenever, there’s a few places in my neighborhood.
I can see my GP within 2-3 days if I need him, and if I need something sooner, I can see a different doctor at the same practice same-day if I call early enough. Haven’t needed to have a surgery or be admitted to a hospital in a while, but I haven’t had issues with the ER recently.
In my area, I can see a doctor very quickly if needed. My dentist, however, is booked months in advance for cleaning but I’ve been told that I can get an appointment within a week for something serious
Yes, in some things. But I live in a very rural state. There is an entire county here in Wyoming that has no labor or delivery services, which the counties here are large, this county is bigger than New Jersey, so you gotta treck at minimum 1.5 hours to a different hospital, and often in the winter the interstate is closed so you’d be screwed. Thankfully I don’t live there and am not having kids, but that’s gotta be scary for pregnant people there.
In my personal experience I called to make an appointment with my regular doctor and I had to wait over a month.
The hospital in my county has been great though. I was in the er about 9 months ago and had to have emergency surgery and I was the only person in there lol.
My husband had to get stitches about 3 weeks ago on a Friday night and there was no wait.
Huh?
I thought the Canadian health care system was all rainbows, and it was only because Americans are so stupid that we don’t have the same system.