Ontario man says he was denied medical treatment because he didn't have a cellphone
A Mississauga man wants COVID-19 safety protocols to be thought through with more compassion after he says he was sent away from a walk-in clinic with a very painful hand because he didn’t have a cellphone.
Pete Vojeckis says he takes the pandemic seriously and was happy to wait in the parking lot rather than the waiting room and be called in. But he’s calling for common sense — because, he says, he could be called in verbally rather than over the phone.
“It seems like it’s pretty unfair if they’re going to exclude people from medical treatment if they don’t have cell phones,” Vojeckis, who is on disability, told CTV News Toronto. “That’s really wrong, you know.”
It’s a case that has observers reminding policymakers that technological solutions that work for many people don’t necessarily work for everyone, and people who don’t have cellphones for a variety of reasons shouldn’t be left behind.
Wayne Sumner, a professor emeritus at the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto, said that’s especially important as cellphones become tools used in COVID-19 contract tracing and could be part of a digital vaccine passport system.
“Something that works for 95 per cent of people, something as important as this, you have to make some provisions for the five per cent of people for whom it doesn’t work,” Sumner said.
Vojeckis says he bent his fingers backwards last week. “It hurt a lot and I thought I broke something. It swelled up like a boxing glove.”
He went to a walk-in clinic at Hurontario St. and Queensway. He says staff asked him to wait outside as part of a COVID safety protocol, and they would call him when they were ready.
But when Vojeckis said he didn’t have a cellphone, he says the staff told him to go to the nearby Trillium Health Partners hospital — something he wanted to avoid in case there were COVID cases there.
He says he suggested calling him verbally, in person, maintaining physical distance — but was shut down.
“She turned me away because I don’t have a cellphone,” Vojeckis said. “It’s not a very good thing to be forced to have technology for the simplest things like health care.”
A walk-in clinic at Hurontario St. and Queensway. (Jon Woodward/CTV News Toronto)
Having patients wait outside is recommended by health officials during the pandemic because the chances of spreading COVID-19 is much lower.
When CTV News Toronto phoned the clinic for comment, and selected ‘land line’ on the touchtone menu, their system sent an automated text.
And when we arrived in person, we were handed a generic note that said in part, “The clinic is proud of the quality of the medical care provided at this clinic. No one in the clinic has any comments for the media.”
Vojeckis said he wants public health officials to update their guidance to include people who don't have easy access to technology.
"Something's got to be done, you know. People are falling through the cracks and it's pretty sad," he said.
Vojeckis was eventually diagnosed with an injured tendon by his family doctor.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'