A website lets you reserve a spot on walk-in clinic wait list for $5. But is it fair?

Would you pay $5 to jump up on the waiting list at a walk-in clinic?

You can in some parts of B.C., through a website called Medimap.

Most functions on the site are free — including its main feature, which shows wait times at participating clinics in real time.

But some clinics also offer a premium feature, which lets you put your name on the wait list from home, for a $5 fee.

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That feature has raised the question of whether those who can afford to pay are receiving preferential access to medical care.

Speaking with CKNW’s Simi Sara, Mike McLoughlin, Director of the Walk In Clinics Association of B.C., acknowledged that with the province’s doctor shortage, seeing a physician at a clinic can be challenging.

In his home community of Kelowna, he said that staffing shortages have led to several clinics closing in recent months.

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But he said that even with crowded clinics, the Medimap pay feature isn’t barring access for anyone.

“I haven’t heard anyone complain about it being a cost barrier. It’s not a required fee. It’s basically a way to get in on the list and have some assurance that you’re going to be seen by a doctor,” he said.

“Nobody is being charged to visit the walk-in clinic. All you need to have service at a walk-in clinic is your healthcare card, and that there’s availability.”

McLoughlin instead described the virtual wait-list feature as a matter of convenience.

“I can see how that can raise some eyebrows and people could be concerned about it,” he said.

“But at the same time if you’re a single mom and you’ve got three kids and you don’t want to sit in the waiting room for two hours waiting to see the doctor, it is a way you can get on the list without having to be at the clinic.”

McLoughlin disagreed when asked whether it would be more fair to have the province operate a similar tool.

He argued that letting the private sector operate the tool keeps the costs off taxpayers’ shoulders.

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McLoughin said that at least one Kelowna clinic is using the pay feature — and that people are taking advantage of it once or twice a day.

He added that clinics aren’t profiting off the feature, and that Medimaps  collects the fee.

Nonetheless, he said clinics have responded positively to the website, because its wait times reporting feature is actually helping to cut waits overall by directing patients to empty clinics.