Patients left in lurch after Orleans doctors plan to close practices
Patients of an east Ottawa clinic say they've been left in the lurch after learning they would need to find new family doctors because their doctors were closing their medical practices.
"It was a shock to me," said Diane Godard, whose doctor was one of three at the Orléans Family Health Clinic on Centrum Boulevard who signed the letter sent to patients on Dec. 29, 2022.
The letter stated their practices would be closed as of April 6 and no other physicians there would be able to take them on, as their waitlists were full.
"Frustration, anger and I thought, 'How could they treat people like that?'" Godard said of her reaction. "First, I was angry at the doctor but then with these three weeks of not being able to get through to the clinic."
Godard has had breast cancer, blood pressure issues and COPD. She needs prescription renewals as she begins the daunting task of finding a doctor but says she hasn't been able to get through to the clinic to make an appointment.
"I know it's going to be a long time to get a doctor," she said. "I need my renewals for one year."
CTV News reached out to the clinic for comment and has not heard back.
Numbers in a memo provided to the Board of Health earlier this month show up to 150,000 people in the Ottawa area do not have access to a regular primary care doctors.
"People are desperate and that's hard," said Martine Whissel, the executive director of the Eastern Ottawa Community Family Health Team. "And we have physicians that would like to take on more but they're full they don't have more time to give."
Whissel said recruiting bilingual physicians is key but so is collaboration. She says there is talk of bringing a community health centre east of the Ottawa River.
"It's ideas like that that might be able to help our community until we're able to move ahead and have more family doctors take on more patients in this region," Whissel said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.