By IANS,
Toronto : A Canadian medical clinic held a lottery this week to choose patients for its two newly appointed doctors.
According to Canadian Television, the clinic in the town of Gander in New Foundland, was forced to resort to this exercise as it could accommodate only 2,000 out of the 4,000 patients seeking a doctor. Those rejected will have to wait for another time.
The manager of the clinic said they faced chaos last time a new doctor joined the clinic.
“We ended up with a line-up going outside the doors of the clinic and people were lined up early in the morning,” he told the television network.
To avoid a similar situation, he said, they resorted to hold a draw to pick new patients for Dr Amanda Scott and Dr Celine Dawson.
Those chosen by the draw were informed Monday that they could contact their new doctor.
A couple, who got lucky this time, said they have been searching for a family doctor for the past two years.
The latest Statistics Canada report says that about four million people – about 12 percent of the population – don’t have a family doctor.
Waiting periods for surgeries are getting longer and longer, forcing many in serious conditions to seek treatment abroad at personal expense.
So much for the world’s much flaunted health system, which is perpetually short of doctors and nurses even as qualified immigrant doctors drive taxis on the roads of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.