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Since he opened a private surgical clinic a decade ago, Dr. Marc Beauchamp says he’s operated on a growing number of Quebecers in their ’60s and ’70s in need of shoulder repairs and other types of surgery who are being turned down by doctors in the public system under the pretext that they are too old.

Beauchamp blames the problem on ageism and a public health system that’s stretched to the limit as the province’s population ages.

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“There is age discrimination in the system, for sure. Big time,” Beauchamp said. “And I think it’s getting worse and worse with time.

“There are so many people to see and the demand is so huge that surgeons can’t respond to every single request,” he added. “They are prioritizing the younger people and looking for a way to control the wait times. In a way, I can understand that. But unfortunately, they will miss opportunities where (older) people could be helped.”

Frustrated with not being given sufficient operating-room time at Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Beauchamp opted out of medicare in July 2005 and opened his own clinic in Town of Mount Royal. Since then, Beauchamp has doubled and sometimes tripled the annual number of operations he performs, billing patients directly.