Physician and nurse shortages, as well as closed ERs, are issues that aren’t going to be solved any time soon, especially for rural and northern Manitoba communities, but there is another option. The online service Q-Doc has had a successful year in providing patients with virtual appointments with physicians and nurse practitioners, to help people who don’t have access to immediate healthcare in their community and to prevent unnecessary visits to the ER. Q-Doc has seen substantial growth over 2023, when it came to service providers and patient usage.
“There have been a lot of highlights in the past year for Q-Doc,” said Q-Doc Co-founder Dr. Norman Silver. “At the end of 2022, we had 62 physicians and as of now we have 113, along with 30 nurse practitioners as part of a pilot project with the provincial government that went really well. So, provider wise, we have gone up about 80 percent in that capacity. We were able to recruit 30 nurse practitioners in a month. The nurse practitioner pilot went really well and allowed patients to be seen through Q-Doc as a result.