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Practice status — overview
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In March of 2021, I announced the extended leave of absence from my general (primary care) practice necessitated by family illness.
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Although this change was effective immediately, I have remained diligent in my efforts to support the continuity of care for patients while they search for a new family doctor.
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Months later, there are still many such patients without a new family doctor despite their sustained efforts, with these struggles presumably potentiated by the medical complexity of this remaining cohort.
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Consequently, I have continued to do my best in helping this remaining cohort while regularly reminding these patients of the significant limitations in my capacity to contribute.
Practice status — further details
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All patients are still required to find a new family doctor, and should therefore still continue searching for a new family practice ASAP.
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This temporary service continues to wind down with ongoing incremental reductions in both hours and scope.
Regarding decreasing hours, this reflects both a reduction in the number of hours for a given week, as well as the decreasing certainty/confidence around additional availability in subsequent weeks.
As for scope, the focus of this service is increasingly limited to specific follow-up issues (such as laboratory results or medication adjustments) and other telehealth services requested by patients when they are unable to access appropriate care elsewhere due to geographical limitations and other barriers (such as those referenced above).
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This service should not be misinterpreted as a form of primary care (family practice) or substitute for any part thereof.
Accordingly, this service should not in any way be mistaken as a substitute for primary care, or, more generally, with in-person appointments when indicated for many medical problems or as part of routine screening (e.g., pap tests) facilitated in family practice.
To help bridge possible gaps in primary care screening while patients search for a new family doctor, I encourage regular review of the following document I prepared:
Other
RE: Online attacks
Alexa and I are grateful for the overwhelming gestures of support from so many of you during the past several months. The criminal harassment and other attacks against my partner, Alexa, had been escalating since September 2018 and subsequently evolved to further encompass Alexa's loved ones; as such, the perpetrator increasingly targeted me with ongoing threats and anonymous online defamatory attacks (including falsified accusations and libelous comments).
There are two purposes of this post:
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To let my patients know that I am already aware of these online defamatory attacks.
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To notify reporters or other members of the press that they should directly contact the Media Relations Department of the Vancouver Police Department rather than contacting any of my clinics.
Thanks again for your caring words and general kindness.
With sincere and heartfelt gratitude,
-Eric and Alexa