Posted By Sudbury Star, September 30, 2009

Re: "Doc's turf war will hinder health service" -- Sept. 26, 2009 

Christina Blizzard, in her recent article about Bill 179's journey through the Ontario legislature, states that a group of guerrillas in the Ontario Medical Association is warning that when you are on the airship Goodhealth, you want the pilot to be in charge of the services you receive under OHIP.

Fine, but don't you sometimes get the feeling whilst in the middle of a doctor's appointment here in Sudbury, should you be able to get one, that the whole system is on auto-pilot and that you are being rushed to nowhere in a hurry?

Blizzard points out that in a doctor-scarce town like Sudbury, even a "standalone" nurse practitioner would be "better than nothing" if you can't find a doctor.

Faint praise indeed! The truth is, however, that the nurse practitioner does not stand alone in her clinic. She becomes your primary, certainly not your only, health care provider. She works with a team of general practitioners, specialists and even pharmacists, co-ordinating whatever medical services you may need at a specific moment.

In the past few months, this reader has visited a nurse practitioner twice, has talked to her on the phone twice, has seen a doctor at the nurse practitioner clinic and has been interviewed by a visiting pharmacist at the clinic. He has also been referred to two specialists by the nurse practitioner and is currently under treatment by both of them.

I'd really think twice about giving up this level of service should I ever find a doctor in Sudbury who is not too busy to see me. Just for fun, ask your doctor if he/she would mind you phoning one day to discuss your medical problems. Then watch the whole system go on auto-pilot.

Bob Yates Sudbury