Hacker News Reader

During the initial COVID outbreak, did Canada allocate huge sums of money ostensibly to shore up the medical system like we did here in the U.S.? Where did all of it go? Certainly none to nurse's salaries.

View on HN

No. In general, Canadians just lost access to the medical system. Surgeries delayed, family doctors switching to only telehealth. Even now, in Vancouver — for my family doctor it would be a two week wait for a 10 minute phone call, followed by another two week wait to be seen in person (if he decided that was needed). Any type of non emergency walk in clinic is generally full within the first few minutes, due to line ups before opening. So for many, the only chance of seeing a doctor within a month your best option is waiting 7-12 hours in an emergency room.

This is generally not my experience in Ontario. I've been to my family doctor and the ER multiple times during COVID and after and although the ER can be a multiple hour wait for minor things like a fever it's still pretty speedy for serious injuries. I haven't needed any elective surgery but checkups like heart ultrasounds were still only a week or two wait.

If anything, my dentist has been the most impacted by COVID. They're booked solid for at least a month to six weeks.

Each province has its own health system so it's a bit difficult to generalize across them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com