Living in Gatineau vs Ottawa

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Nowhere

French is my first language, but I still wouldn't consider living in Gatineau, since I absolutely need prescription medications. The Québec goverment is letting people die from lack of health care in Gatineau and Montréal because building freeways to rural areas in Eastern Québec is often more politically popular. It seems that for a lot people, it's a larger factor than language for not wanting to live on the Québec side.

It's great to see that a new hospital will be built, but if there's not enough staff, it might be basically unusable just like the Hull and Gatineau hospitals.

Is this because Ontario's pharmacare covers certain medications that Quebec's pharmacare does not?

I hear all the gripes about healtcare in Gatineau, and 95% of them are related to either the difficulty of getting a family doctor, or emergency room wait times.

I have never heard anyone complain about pharmacare.

[Nowhere]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Is this because Ontario's pharmacare covers certain medications that Quebec's pharmacare does not?

I hear all the gripes about healtcare in Gatineau, and 95% of them are related to either the difficulty of getting a family doctor, or emergency room wait times.

I have never heard anyone complain about pharmacare.

I mean, getting prescription meds when you don't have access to a family doctor or a nurse practitioner can be really hard. Even if was crossing the border to go to Ottawa walk-in clinics, they often don't do much for anything remotely serious since they can't follow up after that. Some walk-in clinics won't even prescribe basic stuff like antidepressants.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Nowhere

I mean, getting prescription meds when you don't have access to a family doctor or a nurse practitioner can be really hard. Even if was crossing the border to go to Ottawa walk-in clinics, they often don't do much for anything remotely serious since they can't follow up after that. Some walk-in clinics won't even prescribe basic stuff like antidepressants.

Basic stuff like anti-depressants?! Seems like something that should be monitored not taken on a whim.

Ontario also has a family doctor shortage. A long waiting list and frankly what you get at the end are not the most in demand.

Are there no walk in clinics in Quebec? What do those without Family Docs do?

How does the cross border payment system work? I have family members in healthcare in Ontario but naturally the total separation between them and billing in Canada means they have no idea how Quebecers who come to Ontario are actually billed and what they get reimbursed for.

Even a heavy user of healthcare I would think couldn't be paying that much out of pocket. Certainly nothing compared to the extra taxes you are paying or conversely the savings on housing costs, daycare and tuition.

[wingman]

There are two walk-in clinics I am aware of, one on St-Raymond and another new one on La Verendrye at l'Hopital. There were way more but they seem to have disappeared. Even then, some walk-ins say they cannot take 'new' clients.

It is the one thing that bothers me about the region. The province has not paid attention to this regions unique placement. No other major Quebec city borders with a larger city from another province where many health care professionals get paid more. In MTL you're not going to go work in Cornwall... So many of the provincial pay rates in the health care field are subpar and because Ottawa is right there, many take the opportunity to do the same job and get paid more (who wouldn't really).

I think the province needs to look at that; they subsidize gas in the region ffs and who knows what else. I suppose this could create a reverse problem for those living near the Outaouais say in the Laurentians, they could simply work in the region leaving their home region short. Its not a nothing decision, but something needs to be done.

As a poster said, new hospital is great but you need the staff for it to work.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Basic stuff like anti-depressants?! Seems like something that should be monitored not taken on a whim.

Ontario also has a family doctor shortage. A long waiting list and frankly what you get at the end are not the most in demand.

Are there no walk in clinics in Quebec? What do those without Family Docs do?
.

Yes, I have relatives and friends who live in Ontario (including in Ottawa) and some have waited a long time for a family doctor.

Though the delays and shortages in professionals are on a whole other level in the Outaouais.

We do have walk-in clinics but they are rare and generally packed with "no more patients" signs like 15 minutes after they open in the morning. Wingman is right that there seems to be fewer and fewer of them.

Though things have improved for kids at least with the opening of a non-emergency pediatric walk-in (even if by appointment) affiliated with the hospital. You can call and get an appointment for the same day (or the following morning at a minimum.)

I haven't used it much as my kids have always had a pediatrician, but the times I have it's been very efficient.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

What do those without Family Docs do?

How does the cross border payment system work? I have family members in healthcare in Ontario but naturally the total separation between them and billing in Canada means they have no idea how Quebecers who come to Ontario are actually billed and what they get reimbursed for.
.

Some Ottawa doctors accept the Quebec health card but in my experience the numbers doing so have been dropping quite a bit.

Aside from that, Quebec patients who have no family doctor (and can't get into the Gatineau walk-ins that day) go to Appletree and pay out of pocket.

Then you can claim your expense from the Quebec government, though they don't pay everything back. There is about a 25 dollar difference IIRC between what Quebec pays and what Appletree charges.

I guess you can view it as "queue-jumping" fee.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Even a heavy user of healthcare I would think couldn't be paying that much out of pocket. Certainly nothing compared to the extra taxes you are paying or conversely the savings on housing costs, daycare and tuition.

I would only expect that a very tiny fraction of people would have the perfect storm of bad circumstances combining low income, no family support, no family doctor and a requirement for constant, frequent doctor appointments to renew prescriptions where you need to pay that out-of-pocket fee somewhere like Appletree and "eat" multiple times a month that 25 bucks that Quebec doesn't reimburse.

Also, AFAIK the Quebec family doctor wait list system gives priority to people who have chronic conditions or require frequent appointments precisely for stuff like weekly prescription renewals.

Anyone I've ever known in that situation in Gatineau has always had a family doctor, that I recall.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I am sure it's just because they could understand you better, since you learned "Parisian French"!

My parents would have learned Parisian French. I had the honour of getting non-qualified teachers from Quebec because there weren't enough Francophones to teach us (spoiler: finding French-first language teachers in a city that's 97% Anglophone and when there are already Francophone schools is going to be next to impossible). My homeroom teacher in Grade 8 was a former prison guard in Quebec who only got the teaching job in NB because his French was passable.

At best I learned Quebecois and at worst I learned Chiac in my French immersion in NB. Lots of Franglais.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

My parents would have learned Parisian French. I had the honour of getting non-qualified teachers from Quebec because there weren't enough Francophones to teach us (spoiler: finding French-first language teachers in a city that's 97% Anglophone and when there are already Francophone schools is going to be next to impossible). My homeroom teacher in Grade 8 was a former prison guard in Quebec who only got the teaching job in NB because his French was passable.

At best I learned Quebecois and at worst I learned Chiac in my French immersion in NB. Lots of Franglais.

I don't doubt that.

It's just that it's a common meme/joke to have Anglo-Canadians not use their French in Quebec and claim it's because they have learned "Parisian French", as if they could take part in an intellectual talk show in Paris but are somehow unable to order a simple coffee and donut in Gatineau.