Report authors call for better funding of housing, child care and education to improve population health
Feb 19, 2024
British Columbia has more family doctors per capita than it did 40 years ago, according to a new report, but its lead author says trying to find one or get an appointment can still feel as difficult as competing for tickets to Taylor Swift’s highly sought-after Eras Tour.
B.C. has 270 doctors for every 100,000 people in 2022, up from 162 doctors per capita in 1976, according to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shared in a new report from charity Generation Squeeze on Thursday.
It’s tied with Nova Scotia for the highest rate in Canada, according to the report, and well above the national average of 244 doctors per 100,000.
The data may be surprising given close to one million British Columbians are estimated to be without a family doctor, says co-author Dr. Paul Kershaw, but he says it indicates that hiring more doctors isn’t a silver bullet to reduce wait times and improve patient care and outcomes.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/more-physicians-health-care-report-bc-1.7118582