If you need to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic in Pitt Meadows, be prepared.
Pitt Meadows has the second highest wait-times in the province according to a report released Wednesday by Medimap, a website founded in White Rock in 2015, that lets patients see how long wait times are for walk-in clinics around the province.
There are four walk in clinics in Pitt Meadows and the average wait time to see a doctor is 100 minutes.
When reached by phone, an outgoing message for the walk-in clinic at the Pitt River Medical Centre along Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows explained that due to shortage of doctors the clinic is only opened 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Friday, and only 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday and Saturday. The recording also advised not to leave a message as calls are not being returned promptly because of a staff shortage.
The Ford Road Walk-In Clinic’s website says the clinic is only open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
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The longest wait time was found in Sidney, B.C., where patients waited an average of 180 minutes to see a walk-in clinic doctor.
Maple Ridge, that has four walk-in clinics, rounded out the ten worst wait time averages in the province at 79 minutes.
The report found that British Columbians waited an average of 43 minutes to see a doctor between Nov. 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2019, a time that’s 41 per cent higher than the national average. By contrast, Albertans wait 25 minutes, Ontarians wait 26 minutes while in Nova Scotia, a patient might wait 55 minutes. The national average is 31 minutes.
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