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Friday, May 06, 2005DR. GERRY Rowland stopped taking patients three years ago. It wasn't an easy choice for the Tillsonburg family doctor who enjoys a small-town practice that includes "delivering babies from the women I once delivered." But Rowland, president of Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons, said he began to worry about his ability to properly -- and safely -- care for the patients in his growing practice. "It was an extremely difficult decision to make," said Rowland, 57, who even took calls from patients at home before getting his number unlisted. "The demand was far more than I could provide. You get burned out. You just can't do it anymore." Rowland is not alone. A survey of nearly 22,000 Ontario doctors by the college found just 16.5% of family physicians were accepting new patients in 2004, a dramatic drop from 39% in 2000. It's tempting to cluck and put the blame on Canada's healthcare system, but the same thing may be coming to the States soon. I closed my practice to new patients a couple of months ago when I realized I just could not longer keep up with patient volume - nor could my staff. There are signs of the same thing happening to other physicians. They may not close their practices to new patients, but they have a six month waiting period for new patients. The effect is the same. There are signs of it at the hospital, too. Specialists who used to see their consults every day until whatever problem they were consulted about resolved, now tend to see the patients every two or three days. It's not that they're lazy. It's just that it's getting harder and harder to juggle the patient volume. Expect it to only get worse as the baby boomer population ages. Especially if medical school enrollment continues to decline. posted by Sydney on 5/06/2005 08:25:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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