Friday, July 6, 2012

My Complaint About Canadian Medical System

So the story begins...
My younger son is absolutely hyperactive, and he often feels invincible.
During the usual marathon session of jumping everywhere, he fell from the sofa and bump his head.
Immediately, his head was bruised and became a big bump on his forehead.
We were worried and decided to bring him to the doctor or hospital for a check up.
(hoping for a X-ray...yah, like you are going to get it in Canada.  Free medical care means no care.)

So...Burnaby Hospital has an Urgent Child Care Unit for years for any emergencies for kids.
It was advertised that we can walk in anytime and it is open at night and weekends.
Great!  I thought this is a great service, and we could use that.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:45pm, and it was quiet (except for the emergency room).
The reception directed us to the 5th floor, and  we arrived at the big empty rooms with 3 smaller rooms.
The doctor was at the backroom and there was not a single patient.  You can hear a pin drop.
I said, "excuse me". The doctor came out. Great! I started explaining and showing her my son.
Then, she told me that the unit is no longer a walk in clinic. (Just changed recently...)
She said that I have to get a referral (most clinics are closed after 6) or go to the emergency department.
Or, she said, go to another clinic 25 minutes away...

I thought, "okay, so, this is not "Urgent" Child Care Unit at all!!!!
If it is urgent, why would people go get a referral and then come here?

We went down to the emergency, and there was a 4 hour wait...ridiculous.
I thought:  I am not gonna wait that long.  I am driving to another clinic.
So we found the clinic that the doctor was referring to and waited for another 20 minutes.

This time, a student doctor showed up and took a look at my son.
She pressed the bump head (ouch) and said there is no broken bones.
She told my son to walk around and said that he walks well with balance and has lots of energy.

"He is fine", she said.
We were relieve.  But hold on...
In other places in the world, the doctors will make sure by using x-ray and other equipment just to check.
In Canada, we have "free" care, so to save money, nothing.....no testing at all.
So...how can you say it is 100 percent okay?

I guess most of cases, the patients are okay.  You have to trust the doctors.

I am still amazed that the hospital is paying 150000 dollars a year at least for a doctor to sit around...


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