An Esquimalt family physician sent her patients under the age of 50 notice recently that she would no longer be able to treat them due to a family crisis and a shortage of locum doctors to fill in for her.
Dr. Sarah Truelson, one of five physicians with family practices at Esquimalt Medical Clinic on Esquimalt Road, said she would be reducing the size of her practice and focusing on those born before Aug. 1, 1973.
The clinic, which Truelson joined in 2020, also has a community health clinic, primarily for patients without family doctors, served by a rotation of physicians.
Esquimalt’s Leanne McCartney, 45, signed up with Truelson in 2020, along with her eight and 12-year-old girls, husband and parents.
“She really listens and she’s knowledgeable — not judgmental — and she does the research needed to ensure the best results,” said McCartney, a special education high school teacher.
McCartney was in Italy following a cruise from New York when she saw the email from her doctor.
“My mom texted and said ‘check your email’ and then my heart just sank,” she said. “I thought: ‘Oh no, not again.’ ”
It was bittersweet, since even though the young family is losing their family physician, McCartney is reassured her parents, age 72 and 75, will continue to have care.
“I think it’s great that she’s kept the seniors because they generally need a lot more tests and medications,” said McCartney. “If my parents were without a family doctor that would really suck. Dr. Truelson seems to be doing the best she can with the situation and within the ongoing shortage.”
Truelson is loved in the community and took in many people without a family doctor, McCartney said. “I’m sure if she could get locums she could keep her practice going.”
Esquimalt Medical Clinic manager Levi Newnham said the shortage of locums is “only ever getting worse.” Many family doctors haven’t had a vacation in years, given the shortage of physicians to fill in for them during absences or vacations, he said.
It’s estimated about one million people are without a family doctor in B.C., including about 100,000 in the south Island.
McCartney said almost none of her friends have family doctors because of the shortage. “Everyone seems to want to be a specialist because you make more money than being a GP.”
A new Longitudinal Family Physician payment system introduced Feb. 1 is intended to better compensate family physicians for their work than the so-called fee-for service model that a majority of doctors were on prior to the new deal. About 3,027 of roughly 4,000 eligible family doctors have signed on to the new system.
A new Physician Master Agreement signed with the Doctors of B.C. was also inked last year making improvements in the system including compensation. Incentives have also been offered to new graduates and international graduates.
An independent medical-needs assessment by Pepler Consulting Group in May 2019 pegged the number of Esquimalt residents without a primary-care practitioner at between 6,500 and 7,000. About 17,650 people lived in the township at the time.
The survey followed the closing of the Esquimalt Treatment Centre in 2018 and the loss of the Westside Integrated Health Centre in Vic West in 2015, leaving the area with a single walk-in clinic.
An Urgent and Primary Care Centre later opened in 2021.
For now, McCartney said her family will visit the Esquimalt Medical Clinic on a walk-in basis — unattached patients accessing the community health clinic must call 778-265-4305, as there is no actual walk-in traffic permitted.
McCartney will also add the family’s names to the Victoria page of the province’s new Health Connect Registry. Patients without family doctors or nurse practitioners can also search through Pathways Medical Care Directory.
Truelson could not be reached for comment.
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