Today's healthcare is having problems

Today’s health care system seems to be having problems, with long wait times or trying to find a doctor you’re comfortable with. Every time I go sit at the doctors, I’m sitting there for at least for an extra 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment. I feel bad for her too, because almost every time I’m there, there’s at least 3 or 4 people before me that hasn’t been seen. She had to stop taking walk-ins in the afternoon just so that the people with appointments could be seen on time.



Not only am I Caucasian-looking, middle class, high school graduate, university student, being Canadian gives us benefits that people trying to come into this country don’t have. My boyfriend is American, I find it funny that even someone that has traveled 10 hours to go to school here has so many problems just to go to a walk-in clinic. His mom’s insurance plus the university’s insurance plan don’t cover him enough to see a doctor. I’m very troubled by this, and it gets me thinking about those who came from across seas to try and find a better life for themselves and their families. An article written by Nicholas Keung (2010) states that 15% of immigrants who have been in this country for less than 5 years don’t have a family doctor, more than doubling the rate for Canadians. On top of that, 30% of women and 35% of men have not seen a dentist in the last year, leaving them vulnerable for infections and heart disease (Keung, 2010).



Looking around the campus, you can see many different nationalities. “The 2006 Canadian Census… (states that) 19.8% of the total population, were born outside the country” (Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). On an article I found by authors Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, and DesMeules , a table stated that, in 2007, Toronto’s population was made up of 36.8% of immigrants. “Most (>90%) migrants arriving in Canada report very good to excellent health and display health characteristics that equal or exceeds those of Canadian residents”( Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). The article states that traveling back to their homeland to visit other family members may re-expose them to illnesses or diseases that are not present in Canada. Living here might cause their immune system to weaken against these illnesses and diseases causing them to contract them, becoming very ill in the process. “New immigrants are twice as likely to have difficulties in accessing immediate care as those born in Canada” (Gushulak, Pottie, Hatcher Roberts, Torres, DesMeules, 2011). This is partly to blame the language barrier. Gushulak et al. stated that 36% of immigrants newly arriving to Canada have no knowledge about our official languages. Because of this barrier, immigrants may feel like any health care they might need may be out of their reach. Possibly having a translator for the most commonly used languages amongst immigrants may be an idea to help these barriers be overcome.



My mom works in the health care field, and talking about the difficulties in our health care system she says that, though the wait time have been becoming better, within the next 5 to 10 years things may be taking a turn for the worse. She says that the hospitals don’t have enough staff, and the retirement numbers are increasing. All this combined will cause a great problem, not only for the immigrants, but for Canadians as well.





~Joelle



References



Gushulak B. D., Pottie K., Hatcher Roberts J., Torres S., DesMeules M. (2011) Migration and Health in Canada: Health in the Global Village. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), 952-958.



Keung, N. (2010, March 30). Immigrant women hurt by barriers to health care: study. Thestar.com. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/immigration/article/787917--immigrant-women-hurt-by-barriers-to-health-care-study?bn=1