Thoughts on Private Medical Clinics (Copeman Healthcare Centre)?

[kn]

My wife is not Canadian and has lived in many places around the world so until I met her, I really thought our universal healthcare system was top notch. I guess that was easy for me to say as I was relatively healthy. But her experiences have really opened my eyes. Not only are wait times to see specialists ridiculous, but there is no wholistic approach to deal with a range of issues at one visit. She has a neurologist and after a seizure, ended up in emergency, waiting eight hours, was told to book an appointment with him ASAP and even though it was urgent, could not get one for almost three weeks. Even then, he will deal just with his area and if we need to see someone about a different issue, we need a referral which has in the past, ended up being months down the line.

I've not looked into private medical clinics before so I'm not sure how much real medicine they perform. Some of the ones I looked at online seemed more into the "health, wellness and prevention" side of things. That's fine but my wife needs more elaborate care than just a massage and a consult with a dietician.

Can anyone recommend Copeman Healthcare Centre or another private clinic in Calgary?

Thanks.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by kn

My wife is not Canadian and has lived in many places around the world so until I met her, I really thought our universal healthcare system was top notch. I guess that was easy for me to say as I was relatively healthy. But her experiences have really opened my eyes. Not only are wait times to see specialists ridiculous, but there is no wholistic approach to deal with a range of issues at one visit. She has a neurologist and after a seizure, ended up in emergency, waiting eight hours, was told to book an appointment with him ASAP and even though it was urgent, could not get one for almost three weeks. Even then, he will deal just with his area and if we need to see someone about a different issue, we need a referral which has in the past, ended up being months down the line.

I've not looked into private medical clinics before so I'm not sure how much real medicine they perform. Some of the ones I looked at online seemed more into the "health, wellness and prevention" side of things. That's fine but my wife needs more elaborate care than just a massage and a consult with a dietician.

Can anyone recommend Copeman Healthcare Centre or another private clinic in Calgary?

Thanks.

I could be wrong but the scope of private clinics in Canada due to the Canada health act is quite limited, you might be better looking to the US.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by kn

My wife is not Canadian and has lived in many places around the world so until I met her, I really thought our universal healthcare system was top notch. I guess that was easy for me to say as I was relatively healthy. But her experiences have really opened my eyes. Not only are wait times to see specialists ridiculous, but there is no wholistic approach to deal with a range of issues at one visit. She has a neurologist and after a seizure, ended up in emergency, waiting eight hours, was told to book an appointment with him ASAP and even though it was urgent, could not get one for almost three weeks. Even then, he will deal just with his area and if we need to see someone about a different issue, we need a referral which has in the past, ended up being months down the line.

I've not looked into private medical clinics before so I'm not sure how much real medicine they perform. Some of the ones I looked at online seemed more into the "health, wellness and prevention" side of things. That's fine but my wife needs more elaborate care than just a massage and a consult with a dietician.

Can anyone recommend Copeman Healthcare Centre or another private clinic in Calgary?

Thanks.

I am sorry to hear you are both going through some troubles with her health, all the best and hopefully a positive outcome.

I can't really provide too much advice other than request to be place on a cancellation list from the Neurologist's office, this will allow you to be priority in the event someone cancels an appointment.

Have her reach out to her family Dr and see if there can be another referral to another Neurologist's office. Get the phone numbers and call yourself perhaps and see if there is an opportunity for a quicker appointment. Someone schedule may better align.

Without getting into specific's, I think your family Dr would be the best option for general health. The frustration I find with the health care system in Canada is that when it appears to be failing you as a patient or the family member of a patient, your limited in what you can do with recourse.

On another note, I am glad you posted this thread and shared your experience. I had mentioned something about this in the TJ Brodie thread about his collapse. Enough posters roasted me over the coals about my line of thinking and what I thought was a fairly quick turnaround time for MULTIPLE specialists in TJ Brodie's case. Enough posters were convinced that everybody get's the same quick level of access in emergency cases and we should recognize that isn't the case.

As you have mentioned, specialist appointments take weeks, months and in some cases years for a full resolution to the original problem.

Best luck, stay positive, reach out to as many people as possible and be flexible. Perhaps even a short drive might be able to get your situation looked after a bit better.

As for the specific private clinics, we are somewhat limited in terms what private practice and medical services can be offered in Canada. I don't think there is an opportunity for you to pay for a quicker access to a specialist or anything done locally.

Hang in there and best of luck!

[Azure]

There is absolutely a double standard. Professional athletes will get quicker overall care, quicker diagnostic care and quicker surgeries. What was the last NHL player you heard of who needed a procedure done and had to wait even a month?

Canadians have their head stuck completely in the sand about our health care system.

Also, I would agree that the best way to deal with most issues are through your family doctor. The problem is it is hard to even get a family doctor in most provinces that isn't all about patient in, patient out.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by kn

Can anyone recommend Copeman Healthcare Centre or another private clinic in Calgary?

No personal experience with them, but several years ago a representative from Copeman would speak every year at the In-House Counsel Network and try to drum up business. Maybe they still do, I don't know...

Back then, their selling point was no more "one issue, one visit" roadblocks and the ability to get into a doctor within days. But I didn't get the sense that the doctor that one would see would be anything other than a generalist.

[Tron_fdc]

I'm a member at one of these clinics, and it's amazing.

They do a lot of preventative things like in depth yearly physicals and frequent health check ups. Easy access to doctors, and a 24/7 doc on standby in case of emergencies. My kids have been sick from time to time and you can call a doc, diagnose over the phone, and have a prescription called in. This has helped with some major sicknesses that have popped up over the years, especially on weekends. I had some pretty bad arthritis I was trying to ignore away, and they got me on track with meds, then in to see a specialist who had me all fixed up, and sent in for a minor surgery for another issue. This was all for problems most people would ignore to the point there was a major problem, because it's SUCH a PITA to get decent care from a clinic or family doc. They had a team of nurses calling me, pushing me to make appointments, and doing the same on their end.

On one of their check ups with my wife they caught some abnormalities that triggered a mammogram, and caught stage one breast cancer. It has been almost a year of testing, surgeries, meds, follow ups, reports etc and they have been there the entire way helping to advocate for her. Anyone who has any experience with our health care system in this capacity knows about what I'm talking about here; if you aren't constantly harassing and advocating for yourself it's incredibly easy to slip through the cracks, and get the minimal amount of care. They ensure that does not happen.

So if you can afford it, I would HIGHLY recommend it. It's entirely possible they saved someones life in the case of my wife, or at the very least caught a problem before it turned into a GIANT problem.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Azure

There is absolutely a double standard. Professional athletes will get quicker overall care, quicker diagnostic care and quicker surgeries. What was the last NHL player you heard of who needed a procedure done and had to wait even a month?

Canadians have their head stuck completely in the sand about our health care system.

Also, I would agree that the best way to deal with most issues are through your family doctor. The problem is it is hard to even get a family doctor in most provinces that isn't all about patient in, patient out.

My understanding is that a lot of the Flames stuff is done privately. I’m not sure how much though.

[sketchyt]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

I'm a member at one of these clinics, and it's amazing.

They do a lot of preventative things like in depth yearly physicals and frequent health check ups. Easy access to doctors, and a 24/7 doc on standby in case of emergencies. My kids have been sick from time to time and you can call a doc, diagnose over the phone, and have a prescription called in. This has helped with some major sicknesses that have popped up over the years, especially on weekends. I had some pretty bad arthritis I was trying to ignore away, and they got me on track with meds, then in to see a specialist who had me all fixed up, and sent in for a minor surgery for another issue. This was all for problems most people would ignore to the point there was a major problem, because it's SUCH a PITA to get decent care from a clinic or family doc. They had a team of nurses calling me, pushing me to make appointments, and doing the same on their end.

On one of their check ups with my wife they caught some abnormalities that triggered a mammogram, and caught stage one breast cancer. It has been almost a year of testing, surgeries, meds, follow ups, reports etc and they have been there the entire way helping to advocate for her. Anyone who has any experience with our health care system in this capacity knows about what I'm talking about here; if you aren't constantly harassing and advocating for yourself it's incredibly easy to slip through the cracks, and get the minimal amount of care. They ensure that does not happen.

So if you can afford it, I would HIGHLY recommend it. It's entirely possible they saved someones life in the case of my wife, or at the very least caught a problem before it turned into a GIANT problem.

I had a similar experience with my dad. We went to Copeman because navigating the health care system properly takes an immense amount of time, knowledge and effort. We only had effort.

How you are treated is obviously top notch, but quality of care ultimately resides with the specialist with AHS. The biggest thing about Copeman is how magically you get quicker and faster access to them. From a neutral standpoint, that's total BS... but if you're dealing with one of your own, well, I don't regret spending the money.

[redforever]

I had a very serious foot injury, CPPD, which took a very long time to diagnose, over half a year. I had to access AHS on an emergency basis and the treatment I got was bar none. I know it is only anecdotal, and I know it was because I was in an emergency situation, but from day one, I was classified as priority one and never had to wait more than five days for any test, even MRI's.

Now why I am bringing this up is because of something I was told while I was being treated.

I told all of my doctors and specialists that I was willing to pay for private tests like an MRI but...and this came from my bone specialist and surgeon.

He told me they would much prefer I get my tests done through AHS as they had more up to date equipment and it made diagnosis easier. If that is true or not, I don't know. All I know is I got my tests pronto and never had to pay a cent.

On the other hand, I have friends who have subscribed to the Copeman Health Center and are very pleased with the services they get.

[Tron_fdc]

From what I understand, anyone can call and harass clinics to get in quicker or skip lines. You just have to call all the time, and develop a relationship with the person who handles cancellations, and make sure you are at the top of the list when something opens up.

With these private clinics you are essentially paying someone to do that for you, and because they are always chatting with the clinics, they HAVE that relationship. My wife was high risk on our first daughter, and somehow magically got shot up the list to the best high risk pregnancy clinic in the city. Fairly certain that was how they did it.

[Fuzz]

There are clinics that don't bill the system per issue, but do it per patient. So they get paid a flat rate per year based on the number of patients they have. This means you can discuss multiple issues if you mention it when booking. I've really enjoyed using this model.

[redforever]

I forgot to mention something else I learned from a friend.

She paid for a private test, not sure if MRI or what, and said she had her test done in a hospital? Do private clinics use AHS equipment?

[Northendzone]

i would think for the flames, access to care may be something they have to provide via the CBA