Emergency rooms aren’t the answer to primary care gaps

A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) highlights a growing issue: more patients are visiting hospital emergency rooms (ERs) for conditions that could be treated in a primary care setting.

Why is this happening? Many people don’t have access to a family doctor. Long wait times and barriers to virtual care leave patients with few options. As a result, emergency departments are under even more pressure.

This is a familiar problem in British Columbia. Without strong support for family doctors, patients turn to the ER for non-urgent issues. This adds to the burden on a system already stretched thin.

BC’s Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model and expanded virtual care options are helping, but they’re not enough. We need better solutions to ensure everyone has access to a family doctor. Strong primary care means fewer patients in the ER and a more effective health-care system.

Read the full CIHI report here.