{"id":58791,"date":"2020-04-07T09:24:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T13:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/?p=58791"},"modified":"2020-04-07T09:24:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T13:24:11","slug":"as-callers-wait-days-to-hear-from-telehealth-ontario-province-says-to-call-your-family-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/local\/gta\/as-callers-wait-days-to-hear-from-telehealth-ontario-province-says-to-call-your-family-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"As callers wait days to hear from Telehealth Ontario, province says to call your family doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Ontario government is instructing people to call their primary-care physician, if they have one, instead of its Telehealth system after widespread complaints that\u00a0the\u00a0wait time to speak to a nurse is\u00a0several days.<\/p>\n
“For people to call their own family doctor is probably a more timely way to deal with it,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott on Monday.<\/p>\n She said the aim is to get the average wait time down to a day.<\/p>\n “Waiting three days is not acceptable.”<\/p>\n A London, Ont. woman is worried for anyone who needs health advice in a more timely manner after calling Telehealth last week with stomach pains and a fever.<\/p>\n “I though it maybe was my appendix,” said Rhea Lip.<\/p>\n After trying several times to get through to an operator, she was finally told her wait for a call back from a nurse was four days and 10 hours.<\/p>\n “I was really shocked,” she said. “People who call Telehealth depend on … getting a nurse’s opinion, especially at times like this.”<\/p>\n Several people online also complained of long wait times, both for COVID-19 and other health questions.<\/p>\n4 days, 10 hours<\/h2>\n