As a rural ER doctor, I feel guilty cutting back my hours. But it's the only way for me to keep working

I'm a rural emergency room doctor — and I feel the need to publicly apologize.

I'm sorry that many of you are often not receiving the health care you need, in the right place or at the right time. And I'm sorry that many of you don't have a primary care provider, that wait times are so long and that I sometimes see you in the hallway where you have little privacy. While this happening in our rural hospital in Kenora, Ont., I've seen similar experiences reflected in emergency rooms across the country.

So, I need you to believe me when I say that my colleagues and I cannot fix these problems ourselves. In fact, trying to fix the problem has pushed some of us to the point of leaving the profession — and the effort to look after ourselves may worsen services.