Canadian Health Care...up close.

Today we're in Thunder Bay Ontario on the north side of Lake Superior. Kind of a pretty town and a great view of the lake. This morning I finally reconciled the fact that I had a sinus infection and got to see first hand Canadian health care. Apparently there are very few family doctors in Thunder Bay so most people go to walk-in clinics and the one I went to was in a back room of a local pharmacy. The small waiting room was overfilled with about half the people standing. I stood in line to see the receptionist (who was very friendly actually) and she held out her hand to collect my government health card. I told her I was from the US and she said it would cost me anywhere from $20 to $100 depending on the doctor's opinion. Then she said by the looks of me it wouldn't be over $40...so I guess that was a good thing. There was one doctor and one receptionist and things went amazingly fast for such a large number of people waiting. When I got in it was obvious they weren't changing the paper sheets on the exam table so I opted to stand. The doctor came in in a few minutes and immediately asked me what was wrong with no eye contact or introductions. I told him chronic coughing more so at night and I thought it was a sinus infection. He listened to my lungs and agreed. He saw I was from the states and felt sorry for me and gave me a bottle of Canada's equivalent to flonaze (out of his backpack) and a prescription for Moxiscilan. It all took less than 60 seconds and I was charged $30. The Mox was $27.69. So for essentially $60 with no insurance and 60 seconds of the doctor's time I was done. Now for sure you would not go to a place like this for a true emergency or illness but I suspect with the new health care in the US we'll be seeing places like this spring up. It was definitly impersonal and like a cattle call but it was also very simple and down to earth. Not sure if I liked but I did admire the efficiency...sort of like the feeling you get flying Southwest. JWS