I’m honestly at my breaking point with trying to access routine healthcare.
I don’t have a family doctor, so every time I need something as simple as a refill for my sertraline, I have to figure out where I can actually see someone. My options seem to be:
Pay ~$80 for a Maple appointment.
Hope I can find a walk-in clinic that can see me.
Wait for hours at urgent care or the ER for something that shouldn’t require emergency care.
I even went to a clinic recently and was told there was an issue with my health card/coverage verification and that I’d have to pay out of pocket. It felt like I was just bouncing between “sorry, that didn’t work” and “that’ll cost you.”
To make matters worse, my prescription was sent to a mail-order pharmacy. They promised delivery yesterday, it never came, and I’ve now been five days without sertraline while trying to get answers from the pharmacy, courier, and telehealth provider. I’ve been crying constantly, exhausted, and feeling completely unlike myself.
I know the delivery delay itself isn’t necessarily Canada’s healthcare system, but the fact that I don’t have an easy way to see a primary care provider or get a straightforward refill without paying or jumping through hoops is what really gets me.
I’m genuinely asking:
Is this what healthcare feels like for other people right now?
How are people managing without a family doctor?
Have you found alternatives that actually work for ongoing prescriptions and routine care?
I know people have different opinions on the healthcare system, and I’m not trying to start a political argument. I’m just honestly exhausted and wondering if this has become a normal experience or if I’ve just had exceptionally bad luck.

Hi,

I was hoping to see a urologist. I'm not rich so US and Western Europe may be out of consideration. I was wondering if anyone traveled to see a specialist and paid out of pocket and had a great experience? Thanks!

"As a physician with eight years of independent practice experience in India, I arrived in Canada in 2022 with permanent residency and high hopes of contributing my skills to the Canadian healthcare system. I diligently pursued the required pathways for licensure, successfully passing the equivalency exams with competitive scores and fulfilling all English proficiency and Medical Council of Canada requirements. Despite these efforts, I've been met with profound barriers to entry. Securing even an associate physician or clinical assistant position has proven impossible; the few advertised roles remain open for months, some for over a year, and I haven't even been granted an interview. My challenges extend to gaining essential Canadian clinical exposure. Even with a sponsoring physician, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia has made the process of obtaining a clinical observership license extraordinarily difficult. Despite paying fees and having a clear opportunity to gain invaluable, unpaid experience, the onerous documentation requirements making it impossible to get that license. This experience has been deeply disheartening. After years of dedicated study and practice, and having met every stipulated requirement, I am at a crossroads. The lack of opportunities and the prohibitive complexity of integrating into the Canadian medical workforce are forcing me to seriously consider returning to India or exploring options in the United States, where there appear to be clearer pathways to practicing medicine and earning a livelihood."

Before you down vote me, just hear me out. My relationship with Canada is complicated at best, I do like living here as have done all my life but there are some things that don’t sit right with me. Canada Day has been controversial with the Indigenous peoples in Canada who feel that it is a celebration of the colonization of their land by the British also with in discovery of unmarked graves of indigenous children were found in late-June 2021, at the site of an Indian residential school in British Columbia. I think that is safe to say that Canada Day is tainted, for me at least. And before you say that people died for this country, I get it they died to give us freedom which includes the freedom to not do something that you don’t want to do. It’s just Canada has problems and they need fixing and until then I think we should rethink what it means to be Canadian. And I’m not trying to tell people what to do, if you want to celebrate Canada Day then good for you but as for me I’m a bit fatigued to celebrate.

Dear Khumes,

So it was January that I first got sick, Had a CT scan, Found out my Doctor never removed all the kidney stones to begin with. They sent him a referral, he looked at it and said everything was fine with the kidney. Got sick in March, same thing, same response. Still not hearing anything from him about his opinion on the matter personally. So my wife starts harassing his receptionist until he finally calls me personally saying that everything was fine and I should look elsewhere. So than I had me second throat scope in my life to check other angles. Nothing wrong with my esophagus or stomach. Now I'm just lost. Got sick 2 weeks ago, like really sick, throwing up, chills, soaked my bed in sweat. Wife finally comes home and drags me to the hospital. Meanwhile I'm like, "take me home", the whole time, Three stops later we finally find a hospital that will help, after all day and night racing around. Urologist gets spooked when he sees staples in my ureter on the CT scan with contrast. Mind you everyone's been blasting me with radiation this whole time. I'm probably hotter than an incandescent Christmas tree right now. Sent me home with antibiotics and told me to wait it out for my original urologist. Finally get appointments at this point. He acknowledges something is wrong but he's on vacation! No one is covering his office or patients either. So here I am, dying slowly, painfully, while my whole family watches on in horror. Than our doctor recommends we go to Hamilton. I was planning on waiting for the morning, I just wanted to sleep. We spent the whole day in the hospital again just to find out this new urologist doesn't wanna see us again. I fading out as the night progresses, my blood pressure keeps dropping and spiking. Wife looks at me and truly thought I wasn't going to make it through the night so she took me right than and there, knowing that we were going to spend the whole night at the Hamilton Hospital probably in a waiting room but what ever, LETS GO! Drove an hour and a half like this, fading in and out of consciousness. Paramedics would have just taken me to the nearest hospital, which we have all but tried every one already. Get there, they treat me in the waiting room because they have no rooms available, Stick me on a stretched outside the trauma wing where I watch mangled bodies come in and out of the OR's. Hooked me up to a drip feed antibiotics, like old-school gravity as my wife cuddles me to keep me warm. I'm just shaking uncontrollably at this point. I thought it was the end buddy. Finally talk to a urologist in the morning who says everything's going to be alright. "You made it to the right hospital" which my urologist was going to refer me to this Doctor anyways. She already knew I was coming aha. So when I showed up she's was like "Hey! I've heard so much about you" Lol. Now I'm sitting at this computer writing you this story shaking my head at out medical system. Free for what purpose?

Thanks for Asking,

CourteousBoots

As in the title. We need a new wood burning fireplace chimney liner and insert. Dealt with FIVE different trades people. THREE showed up to look at the job. ONE gave us a price. ALL HAVE DISAPPEARED!

They weren't bidding against one another. Once ghosted we would call the next person.

We are nice people and will pay in CASH. Have you had similar experiences?

My Samsung tv has been acting like it’s turning off and on whenever I get an add or I change between them on YouTube on the Roku I have hooked up and it pisses me off but I can find nothing about it so maybe someone can help me on here

And someone starts to give you their f-ing breakfast order. Coffee people.... I meant coffee only!!

I moved to Newfoundland from alberta last year and have been trying to get a family doctor for a while but it's impossible there aren't enough doctors and a large amount of the population don't have family doctors. I had one in Alberta and was wondering if I could still see her even tho I'm a permanent resident in NFLD? I haven't been able to get my antidepressants for over a year now and on top of that have a bunch of other medical issues that I haven't been able to get looked at since moving. So is that possible or would I get trouble for doing that?

I just wanna go home now...

I would blame the moderator, but that would be rude.