“Since then, finding a doctor to replace him hasn’t worked,” said Mort, whose name has been on BC’s health referral system for a full year now. “We never had a call,” said Mort’s wife Janet. “They are supposed to help patients find connections for doctors. I spoke to them again this week and they said they had exhausted all options.” The problem became urgent last week when Michael’s pharmacy told him they could no longer supply his medication without a new doctor’s prescription. “I immediately started crying and said, ‘I can’t get a doctor, so how do I get his prescriptions refilled?’ Janet said. Out of desperation, he placed an ad in Saturday’s Victoria Times Colonist that read “WANTED: BC Licensed Practitioner for Prescription Renewal.” The ad offered to pay “any reasonable fee” to a doctor who could write her husband’s prescriptions. “I hope there’s a compassionate doctor out there who says I can squeeze one more person into my office,” Janet said. She quickly learned she wasn’t alone in her predicament to find a family doctor. “Many people have written to say they are in the same situation, and we can keep in touch and if I have had any success I will let them know. Lots of good ideas, lots of compassion, lots of people who care,” Janet said. A handful of doctors responded that they could help with emergency prescriptions, but they couldn’t take on a high-needs senior like Michael as a new patient. “I’m sure there are many, many people like me who need a doctor who need access to medical care, medical service that only a doctor can provide. And it’s at a crisis level, I think, for the province,” said Michael Mort. Vancouver family physician Dr. Anna Volak agrees. “Seeing that ad in the paper, a part of it was well, at least it’s been seen even more than it already is. But at the same time it’s like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we’ve failed people like this,’” he said. . Janet says the province needs to do more to recruit and retain family doctors to prevent vulnerable seniors from missing out on important prescriptions and potentially life-saving primary care. “My plea would be for you to help us. It’s not just the elderly I’m sure, but the elderly are in a very difficult position right now,” she said, adding, “We’re not disposable and we deserve to be cared for.” Previous estimates put the number of British Columbians without a primary care doctor at close to one million — about 20 percent of people living in the province.
