@naturegirl15 it’s not just a problem in Kitchener, but all over Ontario, including big cities like Toronto. The healthcare system across Canada leaves a lot to be desired. Things have gone worse since the pandemic. Many doctors have taken early retirement because of burnout during Covid lockdown, then there are boomer doctors retiring and not enough new doctors coming in. There are several specialists here - but few taking new patients.

I have a friend who is a nurse working at a hospital in Toronto whose doctor retired over a year ago and she still hasn’t found a doctor willing to take on new patients! I even tried to get my former doctor in Toronto to take her in my place since I had moved to Kitchener and she too said emphatically she is not taking any new patients. She said if anything, she has entertained thoughts of retiring, herself - and I think she is only in her fifties. She must be, because I started going to her just about thirty years ago when she started practicing as a new doctor at a clinic. She now has her own practice.

My husband and I moved here in October 2022 and we are among the fortunate few who managed to find a family doctor taking new patients, a year later in November 2023. We literally asked anybody and everybody we came across here if their doctor was taking new patients! Finally, my neighbour overheard the receptionist at her doctor’s clinic telling someone they were getting a new doctor in who would be taking new patients. We rushed over immediately and signed up, and were given an introductory appointment with her for November 6, 2023. After our visit with the doctor we went up to the receptionist to ask if our doctor is still taking new patients so we could pass the information on to others looking for a doctor and would you believe we were told she is not taking in any more new patients!? This was merely days after we registered and got accepted!