She was told her toddler needed a doctor within 24 hours. But she couldn’t find one – CBC

Janeway ER visits have tripled in less than a month, says pediatrician

Dec 06, 2022

Julia Murray, a mother living in Conception Bay South, says she was in panic mode on Thursday.

Her three-year-old son had a fever of 42 C, and children’s fever medicine wasn’t putting a dent in it. She called 811, which is staffed by public health nurses.

“They told me that based on the symptoms that he has, I need to see a doctor within 24 hours,” she said.

Murray is one of the lucky people in Newfoundland and Labrador who have a family physician — according to the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, about 125,000 people in the province don’t — but her doctor didn’t have any openings until the following Wednesday.

She was turned away when she showed up with her son in person; the clinic had reached its cap for the day. Next, she tried the Mundy Pond walk-in clinic; it was full too. She tried the emergency room at the Janeway Children’s Hospital in St. John’s, but was told she’d be waiting for hours with her sick child.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/murray-janeway-cashin-1.6675185