Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦 @fongafriend Twitter profile

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

1 year

Would you rather have a dangerously understaffed #ER or offer no ER services at all? This is the kind of discussion I had in a local hospital meeting today.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

It's 4am, I'm the only staff ER doc for the next 3 hrs and 40 patients are waiting to be seen. Where to start?

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

It's around 4:40am and the last evacuated inpatient from Yellowknife is now leaving YVR for a hospital in Metro Vancouver. I've only been here about 7 hours but many have been here much longer. Time to sleep.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

As an ER doctor, I arrived in Port Hardy BC today thinking I was going to prevent an ER closure... Well, I didn't. The ER is closed anyway due to a last minute #nursingshortage ! #bcpoli

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

It was closer to 9 days and yes, I'm wearing a life jacket on land. But the point is, 24/7 on-call while running #familymedicine clinics is not sustainable — towns like #FogoIsland need 2 or 3 doctors to keep their hospitals open. #ruralmedicine on @CBCNL :

For two weeks I was Fogo Island's only doctor. Here's what I found

Dr. Anthony Fong travelled from Vancouver to work as a relief doctor on Fogo Island, off Newfoundland's northeast coast. He reflects on his time filling in one of the many gaps in Newfoundland and...

www.cbc.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

30 patients waiting to be seen when I came on shift at 11pm last night. Highest #ERwaitTime for more stable pts was 12 hours. I'm the only doc from 1:30-6:30am. Worst wait time I've ever seen at #DeltaBC Hospital. Colleague remarks, "I have never seen it this bad in 25+ yrs." 1/

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Off to help receive #Yellowknife hospital patients in Vancouver. Weekend on Saltspring cancelled. Wishing ongoing luck and that all Stanton Hospital staff get out safely! #ER #disastermed #climatechange

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

One double shift and 41 ER patients later, time to sleep. Today, the theme was people who are at the end of their ropes navigating our healthcare system without a family doc. #williamslake #exhausted #ERcrisis #everyonedeservesafamilydoctor @CAEP_Docs

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

When shortages gets this bad, it's better just to be honest with the public and close the ER.

'It’s lunacy': B.C. nurses told to call 911 when no ER doctors on shift

One of B.C.’s health authorities had a plan to keep a hospital ER room open despite having no doctors to cover the department by demanding family doctors attend to any of their patients and ordering...

bc.ctvnews.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Williams Lake, BC has only *3* full-time ER physicians for 23,000 people. If it weren't for locums (temporary doctors liked me), this means the group wouldn't be able to staff the ER, even if each person worked 365 days a year. 1/6

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

I predict that extending family doctors' residencies by one year will further drive students away from our specialty. Want family docs to be better? Train them together, 2yrs, in a team environment in rural Canada with seasoned mentors who do it all.

An extra year of training is coming for Canada's family doctors — but do they need it? | CBC News

The College of Family Physicians of Canada wants to increase the length of a family medicine residency from two years to three, as a way of preparing doctors for more complex patients. But the plan...

www.cbc.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

BC's ER crisis - Got off the plane in Terrace, BC, which has a severe shortage of docs this summer. On evening shift, I saw more trauma cases and higher acuity than I often see in Vancouver! Sharp team here and I have full respect for what they do.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Each health authority in BC uses a different electronic med records (EMR) system. As a doctor providing crisis ER coverage, I've learned them all. Cerner. Powerchart. MOIS. PCIS. Meditech. Meditech Expanse. Who decided at the dawn of EMR adoption in BC that this'd be a good idea?

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

I have to say, the few ER docs left here in Terrace are incredible. Many of them also have focused practices in addictions, oncology and hospitalist (inpatient) medicine. One of them came off overnight obstetrics call, delivering a baby and right into an ER shift! 1/2

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@ianhanomansing I think it's appropriate. Our culture, which normalizes alcohol, is similar to where we were with tobacco in the 80s/90s. As evidence mounts regarding the enormous economic costs and human suffering caused by the substance, recommendations and messaging fall in line with science.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Family docs aren't just looking for lump sum cash - the #primarycare shortage is not just about being underpaid, it's about fighting for sustainable working conditions so they can better serve their patients. #bcpoli #familydoctorshortage

Province offers cash incentives to entice graduates to work as family doctors

Doctors' association says it wasn't consulted about plan

www.timescolonist.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Off the plane and into an ER crisis shift in Williams Lake, BC. They've been on my radar for more than a year but I haven't had availability until this summer. Air's fresh, birds chirping, and I heard the sushi's not bad here!

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I'm almost certainly the only one wearing a mask on this 787 to Poland but feeling happy about my decision. I can't afford to get even mild covid in the next week – too many crucial meetings lines up between @CMATeams and the WHO #CovidIsntOver

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@PennyDaflos @CTVVancouver It's one of the most difficult drugs to prescribe in the ER. Strict eligibility/ineligibility criteria that fill up 2-3 pages, including its many drug interactions. Hard in the ER, and I'd imagine near impossible in a family med clinic.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I think most people already know when to go to the #emergencyroom — I see very little ER misuse these days. Anecdotally, I think people are showing up because (1) they're sick (2) their alternatives are disappearing. #canadawaits #emergencymedicine

With ERs on the brink, doctors explain what patients should consider before they go

Department head of emergency medicine for the northern zone in Nova Scotia Health, said schools could provide more effective health literacy education

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

In Alert Bay – north Vancouver Island – there is no hospital lab, x-ray department or ultrasound technologist. A good history, physical exam and basic support staff are a doctor's sword and shield. 1/

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

It's National Physician's Day. I salute all rural physicians for doing what you do, year-round. Soon, I'm off to a 12-hour night shift in beautiful #Iqaluit #Nunavut .

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Today in #alertbay I'm in clinic, on-call for the ER, and booked for a house call. Yes, a house call! I haven't done one of those in ages. #ruralmed

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

It's a growing trend & sign of the times as ERs jam up in the Fraser region and Fraser's approx wait times are posted online alongside Vancouver region's wait times. Our group is discussing next steps on how to better serve our patients. Any advice? @DoctorsOfBC 2/

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

The general public now realizes that politicians and health authorities have failed to be accountable for scaling up our community-based healthcare for decades. The problem is not the ER. The ER is the symptom, & everyone else's solution when they close their doors.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

I'm on call for the ER and inpatients this weekend in #Masset BC, #haidagwaii , an oasis of peace, nature and culture. I can hear maybe a dozen different bird calls outside and there are deer grazing on my neighbor's lawn across the street. #beautifulbc

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

The MOH needs to step in here and offer a third-party assessment. VIHA has a conflict of interest in their dealings with @alexnatarosMD , and the timeline of how things played out, at the very least, looks real real bad. @bcpoli @adriandix 1/2

Resignations and retaliation: B.C. health-care workers see increasingly 'toxic' workplaces

There are more signs that tensions are high in British Columbia’s health authorities as an outspoken doctor on Vancouver Island has faced professional repercussions and nearly all the critical care...

bc.ctvnews.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

8 months

Consulted on a trauma yesterday night where one doc intubated, another doc put in an arterial line, and I put in a central venous line, all while nurses and techs managed everything else. It was beautiful teamwork here in Powell River. #ruralmed

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I'm in #FortStJames because of a doctor shortage but there's unfortunately also a #nursingshortage tonight causing a last-minute closure of the ER. 1/2

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

100% true. This has been a theme in almost every facility I've worked at in the past several months and is a *national* phenomenon. Do we have an ombudsperson for rights complaints from healthcare workers? #bcpoli Thank u @PennyDaflos

Threats, discipline, fear: The muzzling of B.C. health-care workers

Many British Columbia medical staffers are frustrated and even angry about what they describe as a culture of fear and silence when it comes to raising questions about the quality of care in the...

bc.ctvnews.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

3 years

The #ER is struggling, having to compensate for the lion's share of our #healthcare system's growing deficiencies outside the ER. And I'm not talking about the COVID. Today on @HealthyDebate #emergencyroom #emergencydepartment #healthcaredesign #onpoli

Emergency departments at a ‘tipping point’ - Healthy Debate

healthydebate.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Most physicians in Canada are independent contractors that bill the government. We receive no pension, mat/pat leave, paid sick days, paid vacation, disability or private health insurance unless we purchase those benefits separately. The gov doesn't cover anything for us.

Teri McGrath

@Teri4112

2 years

@fongafriend Question: are you considered a public servant and all your benefits including liability insurance are partially covered by the gov and you pay into a portion of those benefits just like all public servants do?

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

My inbox over the past month has been a constant flurry of asks for ER physician coverage over the summer in B.C. One site has 18 shifts vacant for July! No BC health authority is spared. While I can't neglect my own work, studies or home life, I'll try my best to help out.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

It's truly humbling as a city doc myself and a reflection of the importance of training more family doctors and ensuring they're paid well - they can fulfill all these roles, and more, very competently. But they need more backup. 2/2 #ruralmedicine #familymedicine

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

3 years

‘All the trends paint a dire picture’: B.C. facing looming shortage of family physicians via @HealthyDebate @DrRFernandez @LindsayKHedden @DrRitaMc @RuthLavergne @dlsphjournalism @BCCFP @BCFamilyDoctors @FamPhysCan @cpsbc_ca #bcpoli #

‘All the trends paint a dire picture’: B.C. facing looming shortage of family physicians - Healthy...

healthydebate.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

It's a privilege to be able to provide primary care this week to the people of Alert Bay, BC and help out the one full-time family doc left here, on the traditional territory of the 'Namgis/Kwakwaka'wakw nation. More tweets about challenges here to follow. #bc_gp_shortage

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

BC ER crisis locum downtime between shifts is really important. There's a myriad great reasons to be in Terrace at this time of year – here's one of them, Kitselas Canyon:

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

As I continue my locums (I'm here twice just this month), I wonder what it'll take to recruit and retain ER physicians here, given the challenging circumstances and hits to morale that they've endured thus far. 6/6

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Bravo @JoshGreggain for helping out in a jam. Truthfully, part of me wants to let the system fail to encourage real change, rather than burn out our doctors and nurses with overtime. But of course I also want patients to receive good care. Very difficult.

Doctors of B.C. president heads to Port Hardy to help out, urges others to do the same

Dr. Joshua Greggain, who lives in Victoria, volunteered to take ER shifts Saturday through Monday at Port Hardy Hospital to assist with an acute staffing shortage

www.timescolonist.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

As I go from Nunavut back to #BC , I'm reminded why I love #familymedicine – and why I left it over 5 years ago in B.C. Family med in NU is a group practice, community-based and interdisciplinary. I'm paid a daily rate and don't run a business. #bcpoli please fix our system.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

7 months

I don't get it. Don't patients in acute ER beds also deserve a guaranteed 1/3-1/4 of a nurse's time? Why leave the ER out when we seem to be hurting the most?

B.C. sets minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for 6 areas of hospital care | CBC News

B.C.'s Ministry of Health has established nurse-to-patient ratios that will be used in hospitals to improve workload. The new standards set the minimum number of nurses required for six specific...

www.cbc.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

3 years

I am one of two emergency physicians on the @CMATeams working along both sides of the #Poland - #Ukraine border. It's been a fantastic experience so far, lots of work to do, and just preparing for 4 night shifts in a row starting tonight! #emergencymed #familymed #UkraineRussianWar

Doris Grinspun RN, PhD LLD(hon),Dr(hc), FAAN,O.ONT

@DorisGrinspun

3 years

THANKS @CMATeams and @RNAO team for your service to Ukrainian refugees. The suffering of people is immeasurable and your comfort, care and expertise brings hope and comfort. #Ukraine ️ #Ukrainian @JustinTrudeau @fordnation @celliottability @CP24

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Earlier this week while I was on call, two nurses and I responded to a cardiac arrest and saved the young patient. Another late night, we probably saved another man who was short of breath & in septic shock. Tonight, the nearest ER for locals is about 45 mins away. 2/2

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

One day in Alert Bay, I was seeing patients in clinic. Someone in the clinic was unstable and I referred them to the ER. But I was on call for ER, too! I investigated and resuscitated them and transferred them to a bigger centre. Now back to clinic. @BC_GP_Shortage (1/2)

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I daydream of a time not that long ago when being a rural locum MD was all about covering someone's vacation, and felt less like bailing out a sinking ship. Scroll to 10:08 today on @CBCTWTW : @TownFogoIsland @KatharineSmart #ruralmedicine #nlpoli #cdnpoli

The World this Weekend for 2024/01/27 at 21:30 EST | The World this Weekend | Live Radio | CBC...

The World This Weekend keeps you up to date with what's happening in Canada and around the world.

www.cbc.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Sadly, Saanichton hospital's #ER , a suburban site in BC, is closed overnight for the summer. I offered to fill in for a couple days in August but too little, too late. @CAEP_Docs

Saanichton hospital ER to close overnight for two months due to staff shortage

The Vancouver Island health authority is closing the emergency department at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital overnight for the next two months.

vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

A fully staffed ER is definitely needed here. Williams Lake seems like a very livable city so far, with forests, lakes, well-stocked grocery stores and many restaurants. The ER team is lovely and skilled, but works in a constantly under-resourced environment. 4/6

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

About 50-70% of people in Terrace don't have family doctors, depending on whom you ask. This is far more than the BC average of 20%. From an ER nurse's point of view, I can see where that 70% comes from – 2/3 of the pts on the ER tracker yesterday didn't have a doctor.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

To get hospital privileges in each health authority in BC, I have to separately submit to each my medical degree, speciality certificate, 3 references that they independently verify, and a dictionary (checklist) of my competencies. 1/4

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I'd just spent 45 mins resuscitating someone in shock. As I examined the next patient's swollen leg in the ER, I added, "I'm so sorry for the wait today." The older man replied: "It's ok. I heard you talking over there (in Acute) - you saved a life." My morale caught second wind.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Although this situation is far from ideal, I found the greater challenge was that #mentalhealth issues, #addictions and #chronicpain are really difficult to treat here. These require a team of health-care providers, specialized knowledge and continuity of care. 2/

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

- in my first two shifts here, I've seen people suffer vehicle-related trauma, dangerous heart rhythms, broken bones, strokes and acute psychiatric illness. About a week ago, I heard there was a code orange, which is a hospital activation to prepare for a mass-casualty event. 3/6

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

On my way to @SRPCanada #srpc2023 Rural and Remote medicine conference to speak about #disastermed ! Can't wait to meet everybody and share stories from rural Canada!

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

🧵Lessons from @CAEP_Docs rounds today on ER Dept crowding by Drs @EddyLang1 & Ffion Davies: - ED overcrowding is the result of hospitals everywhere being at >100% capacity - 1 additional ED death per 82 patients waiting for beds upstairs - there is leadership paralysis 1/3

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Another place in BC going from overworked doctor to no doctor at all. Surely a cruel joke. How did they let this happen?

B.C. health care crisis: No doctors available for hospitalized patients

Some patients admitted to a Vancouver Island hospital over the long weekend were stunned to receive a notice telling them that even though they’d been admitted, there wasn’t a doctor available to...

bc.ctvnews.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Dr. Nataros isn't the only doctor, health-care worker, or member of the public who has called out Dr. Williams or VIHA's practices publicly. 2/2

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Ran into my longtime St Paul's colleague @VicLeungIDdoc randomly in a woodfire cuisine restaurant in the Swiss Alps. What are the chances?! #greatminds

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

This crisis has been on my radar for more than a year, its cause, written about before: A third of patients don't have a family doctor here. But that doesn't mean I'm just refilling prescriptions in the ER - 2/6

Cariboo Memorial Hospital head doc says all parties working to find ER staffing solution

Already understaffed department suffering under shortage of staff, primary care in area

www.wltribune.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Some scrutiny of credentials should take place, but it's dangerous and a waste of taxpayers' $ to not centralize, or even nationalize, this system. 4/4

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Sometimes it seems I spend half my shifts on the phone. Williams Lake both receives patients from smaller towns, and sends patients to larger centres in Kamloops and Kelowna, which can be logistically challenging. Each CT scan after hours required 2 calls with a radiologist. 5/6

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Alert Bay, home to 1,200-1,500 people, needs 3 full-scope primary-care providers to staff a clinic and provide acute care. Right now, it has only one — and a few locums — enough to keep the ER open only during the day (7am-7pm). It's also short on nurses. @bc_gp_shortage

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Today on ER shift I had the pleasure of teaching 2 young medical trainees: one who just passed her #familymedicine licensing exam and is sharp and efficient; and another who is at the beginning of his journey as a curious 3rd year #medstudent . Love clinical teaching @UBCmedicine !

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

@SKGandhiMD @adriandix Honestly, Dr Gandhi, this is not a good idea and is not respectful to the specialty of emergency medicine.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

The classic rural family medicine dilemma. How much of myself do I give to a system that is asking me to be in two places at once?

OCFP

@OntarioCollege

1 year

On Manitoulin Island, family doctors are relied upon to take extra shifts in the ERs. Dr. Maurianne Reade shares the impacts of how picking up shifts in the ER causes family doctors to take time away from their clinics and patients.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

On call day 3. Waters calm, skies clear as far as the eyes can see. #ruralmed #alertbay

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

"Through the pandemic... we went from hallway medicine to waiting room medicine." - Dr. Lisa Salamon. Exactly. In fact, at one hospital, we went from waiting room medicine to parking lot medicine.

CANADA'S HOSPITAL CRISIS | It's 'only getting worse': ER doctor

Doctor Lisa Salamon says Canada’s health-care system is collapsing and it’s ‘only getting worse’ due to a lack of resources.Subscribe to CTV News to watch mo...

www.youtube.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

The services need to be culturally sensitive and provided face to face as much as possible. How can we better do this, @VanIslandHealth ? 3/

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Taking a much needed admin day in Victoria.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

3 years

The "women choose to work less" myth in #medicine is only perpetuating the #paygap between #women and men. Today in @HealthyDebate . @OntariosDoctors @TheSGEM @DocMCohen @tara_kiran #onpoli #cdnpoli #bcpoli

Study debunks ‘women choose to work less’ myth behind health-care pay gap - Healthy Debate

A recent Ontario Medical Association (OMA) study reaffirmed that male doctors in Ontario are paid 13.5 per cent more per day than women.

healthydebate.ca

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Walk-in clinic phone visits tend to generate more visits. They cannot be valued equally to family doctors' phone visits.

ICES

@ICESOntario

2 years

People who see a family doctor at #VirtualCare walk-in clinics are twice as likely to visit the #EmergencyDepartment than #patients who receive any #VirtualCare visit from a family #doctor . Learn more ➡️ @LapointeShaw

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

No, this is impossible and impractical. The most remote, rural code blues are run by nurses and paramedics, with a doc on call from home or virtually from a bigger site.

Dr. Brian Goldman

@NightShiftMD

1 year

At many rural and remote ERs, the only MD in hospital who is present to respond to Code Blues is the one who works in the ED. When the ED is closed, the hospital MUST provide another MD in house to run Code Blues.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Not only did I see the world's largest burl today; I also learned a new word!

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@GrittyNurse It's unethical for news media to pay anyone for a media interview. Coming from an MD with a journalism fellowship.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

It's such a privilege to teach today at @thereviewcourse in #familymedicine and meet some of our most motivated family doctors and family docs-to-be! Today I met participants from #ruralmed sites Mills Bay, Dawson Creek and Sechelt. Good luck on your exams!

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Family visits urban #ER for routine allergy shots. But wait, it's not their fault - mom says they were turned away by 4 clinics. This is what we've come to - #PrimaryCare access issues for the most basic care in urban #Canada , in our ERs.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@PennyDaflos @CTVVancouver There's a very narrow sweet spot where Paxlovid lives when it comes treating COVID. You have to seek care very early, get diagnosed very early, be high risk enough to get seriously ill from it, but no so high risk that you're on multiple meds that interact with it. Exhausting.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

I was asked to be on standby to help out in a Vancouver hospital in case of this surge. Best of luck to the teams up in Stanton and the medical evacuation crews who are trying to get patients down to us safely.

CBC News

@CBCNews

1 year

55 hospital patients and long-term care home residents are being evacuated from the N.W.T. to B.C. as Yellowknife undergoes a mass evacuation.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Family medicine is becoming less and less attractive because we haven't updated the system since Medicare started — on @CBCTheNational : @DrRitaMc @PremjiKamila #everyonedeservesafamilydoctor #familydoctorshortage #bcpoli

What's behind the shortage of family doctors in Canada?

Family physicians Dr. Kamila Premji and Dr. Rita McCracken discuss the shortage of family doctors in Canada and what can be done to ease the situation. #Fami...

www.youtube.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@TrevorJain @ceepcanada Hi Trevor I find so much truth in this... the exclusion of Disaster Med physicians from emergency management organizations is perplexing and happens here in B.C. as well

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

HUGE. I see this not only improving rural locum support. It could help restore pay equity across Canada and bolster our responses to disasters. Imagine if we'd had this during the first year of COVID, how different things would have been in Ontario.

Dr. Sarah Newbery 💙💛

@snewbery1

1 year

This is big news for workforce mobility with potential to help meet the needs for locum supports in rural Canada in new ways. #nationallicensure @SRPCanada @SarahGiles10 @SeanWMoore1 @AlikaMD

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

When it's bad weather out (fog, snow, and/or wind), rural hospitals like here in Powell River sometimes have to manage critically ill patients in the ER for hrs to days awaiting an evacuation to an ICU or other subspecialty setting. It can truly be nerve-racking! #ruralmed

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

For me, this procedure is a minor trifle as I enjoy a varied practice, rural settings and embrace adaptability. However, don't think for a second that this is not a significant barrier for doctors wanting to help out in neighboring HAs in the same province. 3/4

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Anyone else see patients in clinic or hospital who wear their masks perfectly while waiting, but lower their masks only to talk to you? I mean, I kinda get it but noooooo #MaskUp

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

"When people don’t have a family doctor, everything else falls apart: Emergency departments become crowded, there are more missed or delayed diagnoses, more illnesses and immense frustration." - Dr. @tara_kiran

Opinion: We need bold reform to fix family health care

Just as moving to a new neighbourhood guarantees your child a registration spot at the local school, families should have guaranteed access to local health care

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Horse riding in #Osoyoos yesterday afternoon while the forest burns in the background. Just hours later, an evacuation order was issued. I wish the best for all the #firefighters , first responders and EOC professionals at work there right now as I leave the area for home.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

@drawolak @adriandix @BCCFP @BCFamilyDoctors Agreed, Dr. Wolak. The unfavourable math of family medicine in B.C. led me to leave that specialty around 2016 and practice mostly emergency medicine. I used to be a full-service family doctor.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

I'm off to #Masset , BC for a #ruralmed GP locum! More updates shortly😀

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Day 2 of #EMTGM2022 in #Armenia : today we'll learn about emergency-medical team Covid-19 response, EMTs in small countries, and water, sanitation and hygiene among other topics! @CMATeams @reliefnurse #disastermed

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

3 years

#Vancouver #COVID19 #MedTwitter @FreedomConvoy , your assault of noise pollution on the public is not garnering my favour. Your protests are hampering access to essential medical services in downtown #Ottawa and harassing/triggering #PTSD in marginalized people.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Here in Armenia learning lots at the WHO Emergency Medical Teams Meeting #emtgm2022 with @CMATeams @reliefnurse #emteams #emtamericas #disastermedicine

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

The "50% off procedures" billing rule in B.C. is a horrible one. It makes family docs not want to perform procedures like Pap smears that they are competent to do and that their patients need.

Diana Peters

@DrDMPetersMD

2 years

@Docs4BC @DocBells @dr_rdosanjh @sangherabaldev @DrJLush @BCFamilyDoctors @DoctorsOfBC Completed 4 procedures today that were ½ price including paps, cryotherapy and excision all biopsy. All of these to treat or test for cancer. Family docs are doing 100% of this for 50%.

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

As the @WHO #EMTGM2022 draws to a close, we celebrates new colleagues, connections, and the knowledge gained over the past 3 days with folks from Greece, Antigua, Armenia, and the US! #EMTAmericas #EMTeams #disastermed @reliefnurse @DrHilarie @vonlcn @Mjliontiris

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Excited head to the #wadem2023 @WADEM_PDM Congress in Killarney, Ireland to speak about @CMATeams and Ukraine #disastermed response with @reliefnurse !

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

Not very encouraging management of this issue by the CMA. I will think twice about membership in 2024.

Canadian Medical Association

@CMA_Docs

10 months

The CMA has accepted Dr. Yipeng Ge’s resignation from our Board of Directors. Dr. Ge is a keen advocate, and we thank him for serving on our board. Our statement:

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

9 months

I'm in Powell River this weekend covering the hospital for emergency/critical care. Stay safe everybody! Weather's gross. #doctorshortage #sunshinecoast

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Discouraging news. This problem has been bad for more than a year now.

Ken Milne MD

@TheSGEM

1 year

Staffing shortages prompt new ER closures in central Newfoundland ⁦ @DrEvdLinde ⁩ ⁦ @TrevorJain ⁩ ⁦ @CAEP_Docs ⁩ ⁦ @SRPCanada ⁩

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

GP/ER locuming in gorgeous #FortStJames BC this week, for the 3rd time since COVID! Who's been here before? #ruralmedicine

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

Thanks @viawesome for covering the tough topic of family doctor compensation in B.C., with experts on the topic @DrRitaMc @dr_rdosanjh and also my own views. #bcpoli

B.C. is working on a new physician compensation model. What are doctors saying?

B.C.'s new physician compensation model will be revealed this fall.

www.vancouverisawesome.com

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

1 year

Seen right outside of my accommodation here in central Williams Lake. 1/2

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Anthony Fong MD👨‍⚕️🇨🇦

@fongafriend

2 years

I'll follow up on another day, anxious about whether the rare diagnosis I suspected was correct. (being purposefully vague to protect confidentiality) #ruralmedicine

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