So hard to find a family doctor or a Nurse Practitioner :(

[matrix82]

Well, I am on the waiting list now...could take years though.

[Appleby]

I am in Ontario and moved from Brampton to the Alliston area. I did find a doctor willing to take us on as long as we had no health problems (???); she only worked mornings and one afternoon and didn't have hospital privledges. Needless to say we decided not to go with her.

We have kept our doctor in Brampton as we are still young/well enough to travel the 45 minutes to see him. We have put our names on the lists in both Alliston and Shelburne and were called for Shelburne, but as soon as we said yes we still had a doctor, we were moved to the bottom of the list again.

We are in a catch 22 situation, as we need to go to a doctor on a regular basis, so can't give up our doctor in Brampton before we find a doctor closer to home.

We are lucky to have a family doctor, but when we get older and our health is not as good, I'm not sure what we'll do.

[roseofblack25]

I'm not sure how to go about getting a new doctor either when I move. I'm relocating about 3 hours away from where I currently am. I do have a family doctor here, but being 3 hours away and not having a vehicle would make it impossible to get back here for a doctor appointment. I was told since I have health issues and family history of health issues I might not be able to get a new doctor. How does that even make sense??? I have to have a doctor because of serious issues which I almost ended up dying from last year (they still don't know the cause but I have permanent internal damage), and I have a family history of cancer...

I'm not so much worried about finding a dentist, but I need an eye doctor because I wear contacts and glasses, and I definitely need a family doctor!

[matrix82]

Roseofblack25

You are going to school correct? Hopefully your school may have a health clinic. I did that during my 5 years of undergraduate studies. They kept a record and I usually saw the same doctor. My graduate school did not have a clinic but I was able to find a doctor at the time.

As for an eye doctor, I didn't even think of that, but I have never had any issues finding an eye doctor. I find some of the optical places often have an eye doctor on site. I like to stick to the same one just so they have my eye care record.

I am hoping that the list goes quicker than a few years for waiting. I was talking to a friend, and she said she went on the waiting list when she first came to frederiction, 11 years ago, she never got a call back from the waiting list.....I hope that is just a case of somehow her name/number got misplaced rather than that is how long the waiting list has become.

[PinkLincoln]

In Burlington, we have the opposite problem. You can find a new doctor accepting patients just about everywhere. When I first moved out here I just went to the doctor my DH had just because it was easier. Then that doctor sent my DH to his near death bed by ignoring massive tumors on his leg for 6 months, I quickly then went to another doctor. Which I found through just asking around what doctors people had in Burlington. I'm pretty happy with her, and she's a wonderful doctor. Ive been pushing DH to see her since his current GP had to GOOGLE the type of cancer DH had since he new nothing about it, in distress I had mentioned it to my GP and she knew what it was immediately asking related questions to his overall condition and so on, she's just wonderful. She's also accepting new patients so I'm trying to push DH to switch to her.

Though, if you want to see a specialist of any kind, you can expect to wait a year.

[matrix82]

In Burlington, we have the opposite problem. You can find a new doctor accepting patients just about everywhere. When I first moved out here I just went to the doctor my DH had just because it was easier. Then that doctor sent my DH to his near death bed by ignoring massive tumors on his leg for 6 months, I quickly then went to another doctor. Which I found through just asking around what doctors people had in Burlington. I'm pretty happy with her, and she's a wonderful doctor. Ive been pushing DH to see her since his current GP had to GOOGLE the type of cancer DH had since he new nothing about it, in distress I had mentioned it to my GP and she knew what it was immediately asking related questions to his overall condition and so on, she's just wonderful. She's also accepting new patients so I'm trying to push DH to switch to her.

Though, if you want to see a specialist of any kind, you can expect to wait a year.

So sorry to hear about your husband's condition. That must have been scary. A year for a specialist isn't too bad. In Nova Scotia, it took me 2 years to see a cardiologist for a heart condition, I ended up moving and having the surgery to fix the problem before I even got an appointment to the cartiologist. I had way better luck when I lived in ontario. I was able to see a cartiologist and an electrophysiologist, get the heart condition fixed within 5 months of going to the ER for the 3rd time related to this undiagnosed heart condition.

[heatherbassoon]

I'll just put this out there, because I lucked out with it.

After I finished post-secondary school and no longer had a physician, I called around and did the wait-list thing to find a family doctor with no luck. One day when I had some free time, I walked around a medical building (the one near Wharncliffe & Oxford for you Londoners) and suprisingly found FIVE family physicians with notes on their door that they were accepting new patients?!?! One of them was even female! Perhaps they have openings for like less than 10 people every now and then so they only advertise on their door? I'm not sure, but thought I'd recommend this to others. Find a medical building, wonder around, and hope for the best.

[roseofblack25]

Roseofblack25

You are going to school correct? Hopefully your school may have a health clinic. I did that during my 5 years of undergraduate studies. They kept a record and I usually saw the same doctor. My graduate school did not have a clinic but I was able to find a doctor at the time.

As for an eye doctor, I didn't even think of that, but I have never had any issues finding an eye doctor. I find some of the optical places often have an eye doctor on site. I like to stick to the same one just so they have my eye care record.

I am hoping that the list goes quicker than a few years for waiting. I was talking to a friend, and she said she went on the waiting list when she first came to frederiction, 11 years ago, she never got a call back from the waiting list.....I hope that is just a case of somehow her name/number got misplaced rather than that is how long the waiting list has become.

yep I will have to look into if my school has something like that so I don't have to worry about finding a new doctor right away. If not then I will have to try and hunt one down! I figure it's probably easier to see an eye doctor since you have to pay to go now and I know a lot of people probably don't like to pay to see the eye doctor often. I have to go at least every two years or else I can't get my contacts So that will definitely be a priority though I may try and get an appointment with my current eye doctor before I move so I will be good for another two years.

[matrix82]

And ask around about Eye Doctors, that is how I've always found mine. As I have learned some are better than others. I will miss my last eye doctor, he was very detail oriented and he caught an eye condition to watch for that none of my other eye doctors caught.

[PinkLincoln]

Both those doctors I saw were in Medical Buildings

Most of the GP offices out here are in Medical Buildings, it costs them less to split the rent on a floor between 5 doctors then 1 by themselves I guess lol Normally medical buildings have a main reception/number you can call which will give you a list of GPs currently accepting new patients. I found Dr's in medical buildings to have less wait times then ones with their own private practice by themselves. My old GP where I used to live actually died, but his wait times were always 1-2 hours because he would double, triple book some days as he had a personal overhead to take care of though you could always get an appointment the same or next day. When my current GP it takes about a week to get an appointment, but the wait time is about 10-15 minutes. The only time the wait time was insane was in the winter where the lobby overflows with coughing sneezing and crying children.

[SavenRaven]

Though, if you want to see a specialist of any kind, you can expect to wait a year.

Grrr. My baby girl has just been diagnosed with RAD (Reactive Airway Disorder) and McMaster referred her to a specialist in Burlington. The appointment has just been scheduled for 2 months from now. I thought that was horrible, considering when it flares she can't breathe and has to be taken to the ER for an Epi Treatment. I guess I should be grateful she doesn't have to wait a year.

OP, I really hope you are able to find a Family Doctor soon. It must be horrible not having one!