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Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Rickin' Frackin' BLARG!

Now, I have to confess that I may be one of the few people in the Lower Mainland who haven't seen "Sicko". So maybe I shouldn't say anything. But, Mr. Moore - while I'm not about to argue that the state of health care in the US is less-than-ideal...I'm not sure you should be holding Canada's system up as a model to aspire to. At least, not until you've tried to find yourself a GP. After experiencing that particular frustration, you may change your mind about how fab our system is (not!)up here.

I'm overdue for a physical, you see. And that's not the kind of thing I'm really comfortable just walking into any old clinic and having a stranger do for (to!) me. So I've been on the phone a bunch today trying to find a "real" doctor.

HAH!

Of the very few in reasonable proximity to me, only 3 are taking new patients. One is way the hell out in North Van, not really accessible by transit. One assists in surgery and has an erratic schedule. And her office doesn't open till 9:00, is closed for 2 hours at lunch, and is almost impossible for me to phone around my work schedule. Oh, and she'll do a physical for me as early as Friday, but I won't get to meet her first or anything. Might as well go back to the walk-in clinics in that case, except the big chain of 'em out here won't prescribe birth control, so I refuse to go on principle. (Have your personal morals, that's fine, but don't force them on me! And then expect me to pay for it through my premiums. Fuckers.)

So my last choice is one who is very conveniently located, but they can't see me for an initial appointment for almost 3 weeks (with a replacement, as the regular doc's on holiday) and can't book me for a physical for almost 3 weeks after that.

(I won't even get started on the number of doctors that are currently driving cabs or working as janitors in this city because they can't get licensed to practice in their new country.)

WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!

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