Editor’s Note: Global News reported that clients must pay $15 even if a doctor’s appointment is not made with Bonjour Santé. In fact, the company does not charge a fee unless the client has accepted a proposed appointment.
Private company Bonjour-Santé claims it has developed a way to make it easier to get a medical appointment in Quebec.
Two million people in the province now use the online service, insisting they have no other choice than to dish money out of their own pockets to see a doctor.
One of those people is Shane Kavanagh, who lives north of Joliette, about an hour east of Montreal.
“I’ve run into a wall everywhere I’ve gone trying to find a doctor,” he told Global News.
Kavanagh and his wife moved to Quebec from Newfoundland 90 days ago.
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“I have seven prescriptions I have to fill and I can’t get them filled,” he said.
Kavanagh explained he’s been turned away from walk-in clinics three times.
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He pointed out he is also unable to refill his prescriptions at a pharmacy because he’s never seen a Quebec-registered doctor.
Kavanagh registered on the government’s Doctor Finder website, but said he received a discouraging letter.
“They’re telling me the average wait to find a physician in the province of Quebec is 466 days,” he told Global News, adding he was eventually told to go to the emergency room.
READ MORE: Quebec has longest emergency room wait times in western world: report
This is the problem Quebec-based technology company Bonjour-Santé says it is trying to fix.
“The way to access a doctor is the same since the 1980s. You try to phone the clinic and try to talk to the receptionist,” said Benoit Brunel, Bonjour-Santé president and founder.
Since creating the company in 2010, 240 medical clinics in Quebec have signed up to make appointments online for free.
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In order to finance it, the company charges a $15 fee for people without family doctors. People who can’t get an apointment to see their doctor, can use it to make an appointment with a general practitioner in another clinic.
Bonjour-Santé isn’t the only private company doing this, but it is the biggest.
“[We’ve received] thousands and thousands of testimonials from clients saying it’s very, very useful for them,” Brunel said.
However, paying for a search doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get an appointment in your area.
READ MORE: Quebec government abolishes independent health watchdog
“There’s no guarantee,” Kavanagh said.
In his case, using Bonjour-Sante won’t help him find a regular doctor, even if he gets an appointment.
The site claims an 82 per cent success rate and doesn’t charge for search results if clients don’t book an appointment.
The province is in the process of developing a similar website with a search engine that will be free for users; the cost to taxpayers is nearly $4.5 million.
READ MORE: Quebec ‘super clinics’ set to open in 2018 in effort to reduce ER wait times
“It’s pretty funny that the government just wants to start from scratch,” said Brunel.
He said it would have been cheaper and faster to subsidize private companies already offering this service.
“Businesses from Quebec, creating jobs for Quebecers,” Brunel said.
Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette said websites like Bonjour-Santé are a useful service to the public, but won’t help people find family doctors.
READ MORE: New pilot project won’t open door to privatize Quebec healthcare: Barrette
“It was possible for them to submit to tender and the end result is what we have today,” said Barrette.
There’s no law that prevents private companies from offering services.
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