White Coat Black Art Public pain, private care: Why one woman is paying to walk again

Linda Slater waited two years to walk with her grandchildren to the playground down the street from her Calgary home.

She's finally able to do it. She just had to pay $33,000.

"I can walk without pain," she said.

In June, the 83-year-old emptied her retirement savings to have her left knee replaced at a private, for-profit surgical clinic in Toronto.

Slater made the decision to go private after spending two years on a waitlist to see an orthopedic surgeon in the public system.

"I felt I was in a place where I didn't know what to do," Slater told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC's White Coat, Black Art.

Some Canadians like Slater are resorting to withdrawing retirement savings and using GoFundMe

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