WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014
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HEALTH
Richmond facing doctor shortage Survey also finds city lags behind neighbours in GPs per patients Graeme Wood
Staff Reporter gwood@richmond-news.com
Pat Miller, Richmond Hospice Association executive director, along with Jennifer Dufour (left) and Amber Davis, invite the public to come fill out a card for the Tree of Remembrance at Richmond Funeral Home. The cards are placed on the tree to honour a loved one. Photo by Philip Raphael/Richmond News
Tree honours loved ones Philip Raphael
Staff Reporter praphael@richmond-news.com
Christmas time is not always about the gifts, food and general excess of the season. For many, it’s a time of reflection and even closure for those who have lost someone dear to their heart. That’s why the Richmond Hospice Association provides its Tree of Remembrance each year at this time. “Getting close to the end of the year, it’s a time for many people to think about someone special in their
lives who they may have lost,” said Pat Miller, the association’s executive director. “It’s something most hospice organizations provide for their communities, and one we’ve offered for the past 15 years.” The lobby at Richmond Funeral Home is again the site for the tree, where visitors can write their name of the person they want to recall on a paper ornament card and add it to the collection that grows steadily through the holiday season. “We don’t really have enough rituals in our society today,” said Jennifer
Dufour, coordinator of volunteer resources with the hospice association. “Hopefully, this can become one of them each year for people.” While the tree is not primarily a fundraiser, donations to the hospice association can also be made at the same time when filling out a card. Last year, the tree raised around $500. “This is not so much as a fundraiser but a way of remembering someone, and that can be a very effective way of achieving closure,” Miller said. Richmond Funeral home is at 8420 Cambie Rd.
In just five years about 50,000 Richmondites may be without a family doctor, according to a community survey conducted by the Richmond Division of Family Practice. The non-profit group surveyed Richmond residents and doctors and found the city has fewer general practitioners than neighbouring communities in Metro Vancouver. Richmond has one general practitioner for every 1,257 residents, compared to one for every 949 Vancouverites. Roughly 35,000 residents (17 per cent) don’t have a doctor in Richmond and planned retirements of doctors are expected to exacerbate the problem (the survey found at least 19 doctors will retire within four years). According to a City of Richmond report on the survey this week, city planners will explore opportunities to help improve access to family doctors. The goal of the survey was to help connect prospective patients with doctors, increase capacity of the health care system and strengthen patient-doctor relationships. The survey was more anecdotal than scientific, as it surveyed more women, middle-aged people and Caucasians, rather than the statistical averages in the city. The survey found only 15 per cent of doctors in the city were outright accepting new patients. Younger people, new residents and immigrants (having lived in Canada for less than 10 years) were less likely to have a family doctor. Many seek medical assistance outside the city. The biggest factor preventing people from visiting a family doctor include: difficulty getting an appointment (40 per cent), waiting times at the doctor’s office (29 per cent) and availability (22 per cent). Increased access to counselling and psychologists was the number one priority for doctors’ referrals (80 per cent), followed by geriatric community services (73 per cent).
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