Questions for people making ‘escape plans’

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/06/2023 (550 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last year, I wrote a column in which I discussed the high level of transience and lack of long-term commitment among Brandon’s population. I suggested that, as a city with a university, a college and a major employer that hires large numbers of employees who do not intend to stay here for the long term, our city’s population is far less stable than in many other similar-sized Canadian cities.

I also discussed the sizable segment of Brandon’s population that have “escape plans.” They may have been born and raised here, but they plan to move elsewhere if a better job opportunity materializes, or when they reach retirement age.

Since writing that column, I have heard from many Brandonites that they plan to move outside of the province in the next few years, for either retirement or better jobs. When they tell me that, I respond with a series of questions that many of them haven’t really thought about.

My first question is always the same: “Will you be taking your doctor with you?”

I ask that question, firstly, because the need for a stable, long-term relationship with a family doctor is of growing importance as people grow older. I also ask because there have been numerous recent reports about the impact of family doctor shortages in areas of Canada where seniors often choose to retire.

For example, I recently read a report about seniors selling their homes in British Columbia’s lower mainland — taking advantage of high prices in a seller’s market — and moving to smaller communities in B.C.’s interior. Many of them have been shocked to discover there are no family doctors in or near their new communities who are accepting new patients. As a result, they are being forced to travel many hours to see the doctors they were seeing before they moved.

The story is the same in other retirement destinations. Last year, I wrote about the critical family doctor shortage in Canmore, and the proposal by one city councillor to pass a bylaw that would prevent local doctors from treating non-Canmore residents.

Those are just two examples, but the reality is that there is a nationwide shortage of family doctors, and the problem is projected to dramatically worsen over the next few years.

A CBC report from this past April revealed that “The shortage of family physicians stretches across the country, with the latest figures suggesting that more than six million Canadians don’t have one.” Last year, the CBC also reported that “In B.C., almost a million residents have no family doctor.” In Alberta, the shortage affects more than 700,000 residents.

In Nova Scotia, another booming retirement destination, the shortage is more than 130,000 people — double the number from just one year ago. As CBC Nova Scotia reported in January, “The latest numbers from Nova Scotia Health report that nearly 13 per cent of the population is on the list looking for a family doctor … The top reason for joining the list in December was ‘I am new to the area,’ followed by retirement of health-care provider.”

By now, you probably get the point: If you are planning to move to another province for work or retirement, and you don’t already have a family doctor lined up in your destination community, it could be a long, long wait before you find one who has the capacity to take you on as a patient.

Are you willing to take that risk? Are you willing to go without regular examinations that could detect serious health problems? If you have recurring prescriptions for various medicines, how will those prescriptions be refilled in your new community?

If you have a health condition that requires the care of a specialist, who will provide that care?

My next questions are these: How far away will you be from a hospital that can care for you in an emergency? What is the average ambulance response time to where you will be living, and the average time it would take an ambulance to get you to the nearest ER?

A rapid response to medical emergencies is often the difference between life and death. As people grow older, they need to be closer to emergency medical care, not further away from it. That’s an important consideration for those who plan to spend their later years in remote locations.

My next question for them is this: Are there personal care homes in your new community, for when you or your spouse might need one? There is a growing nationwide shortage of available spaces for seniors who require residential care they can’t get at home. If you have a serious illness — a stroke, for example — and require a higher level of care than your spouse can provide at home, where will you go?

I haven’t even talked about the impact of climate change, which seems to be giving Brandon a more moderate climate, but which has caused record forest fires in B.C, Alberta and Nova Scotia. But, again, you get the point.

If you’re working on your escape plan — if you’re planning on leaving for greener, warmer pastures — make sure those pastures really are greener. And, above all else, make sure you will have the care you need, when you need it.