CBS couple among hundreds desperate for family doctor

By Mark Squibb

Marie-France Bonenfant-Kusters and Pierre Kusters of Conception Bay South say they are frustrated with the experience they have had trying to find a doctor in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The doctor the couple had been seeing since moving back to the province in 2021 retired in January. The Kusters learned of his retirement in late January and registered online with Patient Connect in February.
“I went online, put in my MCP number, and the Online Portal said ‘Yes, I was on the list,’’ said Pierre. “But then my wife called in (two months later), and the person on the phone said, ‘Yes, you’re on the list, but you’re on the list as a person who has a doctor. You see, there are two statuses — you either have a doctor, or you don’t have a doctor. But online you don’t see the status. It just says that you’re on the list.”
The couple say they can’t understand why Patient Connect, whose job is to connect patients with doctors, would even bother keeping a list of people who already have doctors.
The couple say that staff haven’t been able to tell them where they are on the list or when they might expect to find a doctor.
Marie said confusion about the couple’s postal code likely added to the delay.
“The whole beast has changed since 2021,” added Pierre. “The clinics are not allowed to solicit names for clients without going through the Patient Connect list.”
A staff person with Patient Connect advised The Shoreline that people who approach clinics in a search for a family doctor will be directed to register with Patient Connect.
At times when Marie has suffered heart palpations and shortness of breath, the couple has gone to a local clinic to avail of video services with a Toronto based ‘Teladoc.’ The couple say that while the Toronto doctor told them Marie would need to see a cardiologist, they were never referred because there was no local nurse practitioner present at the meeting.
“The nurse could not refer me to the cardiologists, and so that’s why I fell through the cracks,” said Marie. “But, if I hadn’t called Teladoc in Toronto, I would have never known, because I was still waiting for the referral.”
Fortunately, Marie was eventually able to make arrangements with a cardiologist that Pierre had seen previously.
“Generally, in this system, patients have to fight for what they get,” said Pierre, adding that with the provincial election looming on the horizon, it’s a good time to bring these sorts of issues to the forefront.
The Kusters, meanwhile, are far from the only people in the province without a family doctor.
A poll conducted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association in 2024 found that 30 percent of the population (roughly 163,000 people) do not have a family doctor. Those results were collected from a random sample of 400 adults and is accurate within 4.9 percentage points.
“I’m 74 – I don’t have 10 more years to look for a doctor,” said Marie. “Once you’re in the system, it works great. It’s getting in the system that is the issue. And how do we get in if no one opens the door for us to get in?”