Health-care providers warn some new solutions may have worse patient outcomes amid doctor shortage
In May 2021, Debra Barlee and her husband, Ron, decided to sell their home in Maple Ridge, B.C., about an hour’s drive east of Vancouver and relocate to the rural town of Creston near the Canada-U.S. border in the province’s southeast.
They left everything behind: their friends, family, jobs.
Everything, that is, but their family doctor, who still resides in Maple Ridge, an eight-hour drive away.
Since moving, the 66-year-old retiree, who lives with rheumatoid arthritis, said she hasn’t made the long drive back for an in-person appointment, relying instead on phone calls with her doctor, visits to the Creston Valley Hospital and Health Centre emergency room and specialized clinics.
“It’s an inconvenience,” she said. “An eight-hour drive is a big deterrent in going to see your doctor.”
