Nearly 100,000 people are without a family doctor in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the province's medical association. The lack of continuity in those instances is almost as difficult as having no one at all.įamily doctors here are beyond capacity, stretched in every direction, and the consequence is that their patients may not have as ready access to them as in years past. We would guess that even more do not have access to a stable and consistent family physician because of the high turnover of physicians in some rural areas.
It is an unfortunate reality that almost 100,000 patients in our province do not have a family physician. Newfoundland and Labrador's health-care crisis has been in the spotlight over the past several months, from an exodus of family physicians leaving the province to the medical association's suspension of contract negotiations with the provincial government. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ. (Submitted by Shaina Goudie and Boluwaji Ogunyemi) Boluwaji Ogunyemi is a dermatologist, also in St.