B.C. expands family doctor registry but critics say it’s just one more wait-list

Amelia Johnston has been on a waiting list to get a family doctor in the Victoria area for the better part of a year.

The 31-year-old, who has Lyme disease, polycystic ovary syndrome and hypothyroidism, signed up for the Health Connect registry out of desperation last year after she was unexpectedly dumped by her family doctor.

News that the province is expanding the Health Connect patient roster in the hopes of attaching more people to a family doctor has Johnston skeptical.

“The more people on the list, the longer it will take,” she said, as patients compete for a Limited pool of family physicians.

During a news conference Wednesday, Health Minister Adrian Dix touted the expanded Health Connect registry — which will now be available in all areas of the province — as a way to match patients with the hundreds of family doctors who have been added to the health system in the last year.