Over the past few years, I’ve written several articles praising the Canadian healthcare system based on my own experiences or the experiences of those close to me. But my family’s recent experience has me wondering if the system is collapsing into third-world status or if this incident was simply an outlier.
New evidence from our team suggests that not only did the reform reduce ED strain while increasing demand for outpatient physician care, but it also has done something neither side imagined: reduce inequities in access to care.
‘They are not supposed to withhold care based on whether they believe an assault survivor’s claims, yet our data suggest that some rural healthcare providers do precisely that.’
When Dr. Andrew Boozary and his team at Toronto’s University Health Network looked deeper into the issue, they discovered that about 100 patients accounted for more than 4,500 emergency department visits in one year. There had to be a better way, he thought.
