I drove my aunt and uncle to an MRI appointment at our local hospital – Sunnybrook. The place was packed. Paramedics coming in and rushing out, seniors in wheelchairs, nurses in scrubs, doctors in white coats. Everyone was moving fast.
The main lobby was crowded. An elderly man was having a seizure on the floor. Two people were with him. Everyone else just moved around him. Down in the basement where the MRI is located, the waiting room floor was stained with blood. There were clumps of paper towels and drops of blood in the middle of the room, a slippery-when-wet sign beside it.
My aunt and uncle didn’t flinch. They’ve been to many appointments in this hospital. But I was queasy. Blood on the floor? And it stays that way? The seniors in the room were calm. They were seated, most in face masks, waiting for their appointment. Par for the course these days, I guess.
Eventually a cleaner mopped up the mess.
My aunt said that after 5 p.m., the hospital empties out. But forget about going to emergency after 5, she said. There’s only one doctor. But what about different shifts? I asked. My aunt said that since Doug Ford started opening private clinics, there’s less staff and doctors for the hospital.
We arrived before 2 p.m. for the MRI appointment and my uncle got out after 5. It was long, but he was lucky to get it. Even though he has tumours growing in his brain, this appointment usually takes months to get.
My uncle says that about 10 medical professionals take care of his various ailments. I feel grateful for our public medical system. Were this private, I don’t think he, or anyone else I know, would be able to afford that care.
The day before my uncle’s MRI appointment, Doug Ford joked about the wait times for MRIs in our hospitals. He said at the opening of the King Animal Hospital’s new state-of-the-art veterinary facility: “By the looks of it, we know where we can send the overflow patients now for MRIs and CAT scans and everything else.”
Ford said it was a joke. But the joke was on him, and us.
The King Animal Hospital said their medical team will continue to provide care to equine patients, always “Putting the Horse First.”
