3 generations in Kingston, Ont., just lost their family doctor

Shannon Johnston has visited the same family doctor her entire life — nearly 41 years.

Dr. Nicholas Cristoveanu has been the primary health-care provider for three generations of her family. 

As of today, he's retired, along with five of his colleagues at Frontenac Medical Associates (FMA) in Kingston, Ont.

Johnston, her five children and her mother have suddenly joined the thousands of people in the area searching for care. She's been told to expect to spend five years on a wait-list.

"I'm nervous because I've put all of my trust medically into this doctor and to find someone else that I'm going to trust, it's going to take time," she told CBC.

The clinic announced in March that six of its staff planned to retire, leaving more than 8,000 patients behind.

Cristoveanu spoke with reporters at the time, describing a combination of guilt, grief and relief, noting he and his colleagues had been trying to recruit replacements for years.

"It's very difficult. It's very emotional," he said.

Johnston praised her doctor's bedside manner, adding he always put patients first and took their concerns seriously.

"He deserves it," she said of Cristoveanu's retirement. "He's been doing this a long, long time."

Johnston's children require medication daily, and she said it will be difficult to ensure they get the required prescriptions and refills without their own family doctor.

The change will also force the family to approach the health-care system differently.

"Is it worth seeing a doctor? Or do we have to go sit in urgent care?" Johnston said, describing her new mindset.

Hong Chen, office manager for FMA, said all of the retiring doctors have seen their last patients.

She did not know how many of the patients had managed to find a new family doctor, adding she and other staff at the clinic worry about their own future.

Thousands in Kingston on wait-lists

The newly-orphaned patients join roughly 29,000 others without primary care in the region, a number identified in a 2020 report from the Kingston Area Health Care Task Force.

It's estimated millions of people across the province face the same situation.

The population is growing and aging, so we've reached a real crisis point.- Dr. Jane Philpott, former federal health minister

Craig Desjardins, who oversees doctor recruitment in the city, previously described losing six physicians at once as a "disaster."

While the city has managed to attract some new family doctors, it's barely kept up with retirements, he said in March.

"I'm reminded of the story of the young Dutch boy putting his finger in the dyke to try and stop the water," Desjardins said. "We're not actually making headway."

The situation has never been as bad as it is now, according to former federal health minister Dr. Jane Philpott. A family doctor for nearly 40 years, she's now dean of the faculty of medicine at Queen's University.

"We've reached the point where less and less medical students are choosing family medicine and more and more family doctors are retiring," said Philpott.

"And of course the population is growing and aging, so we've reached a real crisis point."

She called primary care the key to the entire health-care system, adding the issue needs to be a top priority for decision makers.

"It has to go beyond wishes," she said. "You actually need a plan for what that's going to look like."

Philpott suggested the creation of health-care teams that could include nurse practitioners, therapists, dietitians and other staff working alongside family doctors to share the load and free them up to do the things only they can.

"You may be spending more on primary care, but you're spending less on hospital care, which is the most expensive part," Philpott said.

She also pointed to an approach Queen's is undertaking with Lakeridge Health in the Durham Region to fill new medical school seats with students committed to becoming family doctors.

"They'll have a family medicine-focused curriculum and go right through to residency, and we hope that almost all of them will, in fact, become family doctors."