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Canadian Health Care Continues To Collapse
All six doctors in Geraldton say they are quitting, closing the doors of the northern Ontario town's only medical clinic in May. The doctors announced their decision Wednesday in an advertisement taken out in a local newspaper. The advertisement said the doctors had stopped taking new patients and would no longer perform routine checkups. The ad also said the doctors arrived at their decision individually due to a variety of personal and professional reasons. Geraldton residents were also advised to contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons to find the nearest doctor who is taking on new patients. Mayor Michael Powers said that advice isn't helpful. "I'm not sure that's a solution for us because - if there are no doctors in the community, where do you go? You go to Nipigon, or you go to Hearst, (or) Thunder Bay. We need to try to find some solutions." It's roughly 250 kilometres from Geraldton to either of those towns. Powers said the ad came as a surprise to him and that he has been in touch with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, hospital administrators and Michael Gravelle, the local member of the provincial legislature. Powers said plans are in the works for a meeting to discuss the situation as soon as possible. Geraldton has about 3,000 residents. The Coalition for Family Physicians in Ontario has recently claimed that as many as one million people in the province did not have a family physician. Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-02-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=56818 |