Depending on where a patient is located in Canada, wait times for gender-affirming care can be months to years — a precarious position for people who are already struggling with their mental health, experts say.

Meanwhile, advocates worry that heightened political rhetoric surrounding gender-affirming care for youth could further strain availability within a health-care system that is already under-resourced.

Foria Clinic — a privately run, virtual-only service — wants to help reduce those wait times.

It was born out of the Ontario-based Connect Clinic, a similar online service founded in 2019 by Dr. Kate Greenaway that aimed to make gender-affirming care more accessible for patients in rural parts of the province. Changes to the provincial funding formula in 2022 meant the clinic had to close shop, leaving 1,500 patients — and 2,000 more on the waitlist — without a gender-affirming care physician.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
    41·
    7 months ago

    Privatization inevitably leads to a two tier Healthcare system… if you were overwhelmed by patients before going private and aren’t anymore it’s solely due to the fact that the poors no longer have access.

    The founder made this decision for their wallet.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
      4·
      7 months ago

      No. The article clearly states why …

      The changes to Connect Clinic stemmed from the Ontario government’s move to a hybrid model for funding. The shift meant family physicians like Greenaway would have to pair virtual care with in-person visits.

      But Greenaway’s practice was based in Toronto, far from her patients in rural Ontario, which ruled out in-person visits. If she had to switch to the hybrid model, her goal of reaching rural Ontarians would be impossible, she said.

      This is on #DrugFraud doing his best to kill Ontarians.