Write@Home
Winter 2015

Health

Doctor listening with the stethoscope with flag of Ukraine. Ukrainian healthcare

Overall, healthcare is very different from my city where I was born and here in Canada.

First, I will tell you how everything happens in Ukraine. When a person is born, he/she is assigned to one clinic, given a card, and can contact this clinic when they need it. When something bothers you, you go to this clinic. You go to the reception, take your card and find out how the doctor you need works. Then you go to the office and stand in line and wait for your turn when they call you. If something serious happens, you also call an ambulance and they will take you to the hospital. In the hospital, of course, the situation is different, because if you do not have money, no one will treat you for free in Ukraine. No one does anything. Only an appointment with a doctor is free, but if you need additional tests or some kind of ultrasound or fluorography, everything is done for money.

In Canada, the situation is completely different, you call on the phone and make an appointment with your family doctor. Then with that family doctor you say why you are worried, he decides where to send you. And then you can wait a long time to visit to another doctor. In emergency situations, here, of course, it is much better to get help in the hospital. You don’t need money, they just help you, and you just need a health card. And here in Canada, when an ambulance with a siren and flashing lights travels, everyone makes way for it, but in our Ukraine, nobody does.

Each country has its own nuances of both good and bad.