Opinion: Distribution of family doctors shortchanges Montrealers
"Commuting-for-health-care" phenomenon means spaces assigned to local residents are being taken up by patients from other areas.
The shortage of family doctors in Montreal seems to get little sympathy in the political hallways of Quebec City. Judging from my experience in the medical and political arenas in the past 20 years, the prevailing sentiment is that Montreal is the “spoiled child” of Quebec’s medical system. There are more health resources here per capita, including family doctors, than other regions. It has always been felt, in the halls of power of the National Assembly, that a more equitable distribution of such resources was necessary. The government started with hospital beds in the 1990s and achieved the power to distribute the specialists and family doctors in 2004. Read More