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Office Update 

April 14,2023

 

I have been back in the office for 8 months and had the pleasure of seeing many of you again, as well as meeting many of you for the first time. 

 

I thought it prudent to provide another office update to more thoroughly communicate some of our office procedures that have continually arisen since my return to full time practice.   

 

 

1. Issues at appointments/Running Late: Many of you have attended the office in person with many issues to discuss and many of these are more complex than you may realize.  Please let this serve as yet another reminder that at this time I am only able to facilitate 1 ISSUE per appointment.  I may be able to attend to another small issue (i.e. diagnosing a skin lesion) at the same appointment as per my discretion.  Please prioritize what you would like to discuss. It becomes very hard to remain on time when I have every patient asking me to deal with 3-4 issues at each appointment.  With every patient asking me to do this, it is not a surprise I can be over 30 minutes late some days.  I can assure you this is never my intention and I try to respect your time and I do greatly appreciate your understanding when I am late.  I kindly ask that we all be respectful of others and try to limit our appointments to the most pressing issue to minimize wait times and facilitate a more effective office.  

2. Prescription renewals: Prescriptions are renewed via fax or in person at an appointment.  We continue to have patients call our office for a prescription renewal when they are on their LAST FEW PILLS.  This is problematic as while I have same day appointments to see urgent issues, the office is EXTREMELY busy as many of you can attest and I cannot guarantee an appointment for a prescription refill on the same day.  Fax prescription refills are done for patients who are ROSTERED to me and are covered by your block fee if you have subscribed, or for a $30 fee if you have not.  This is a policy that is supported by the Ontario Medical Association and was put in place by my father when he was practicing.  You should be booking an appointment or sending in a fax refill request when you pick up your LAST REFILL.  Fax prescriptions will be returned to your pharmacy typically within 24-72hrs, but can take up to one week.  

3. Same day appointments:  My father felt strongly about providing timely access to your family doctor and I believe the same.  In order to facilitate this, I have continued the same day appointment scheduling to allow me to see you sooner.  Please call in the morning for an appointment.  Our hours are posted on our website. Pre-booked appointments are for certain issues only - Mary and Amanda are well versed on our booking procedures.   

4. After hours clinics: Please be reminded that the after hours clinic appointments are PRE-BOOKED.  We continue to ave patients walk in and we cannot guarantee that you will be seen. Please call in the morning to book an appointment.  After hours clinics are for EMERGENCY ISSUES ONLY and is not in place to follow up on chronic medical issues. 

5. Mental health/counselling:  Mental health still continues to be an ever increasing and prevalent issue in my practice and the community.  Providing this care is time consuming and I have had to shift my practice patterns in order to facilitate a balance between mental health and acute medical issues family physicians are faced with as the primary point of contact.  If you feel that you are suffering from a mental health issue, or are currently dealing with one,  PLEASE access your benefits or employee assistance programs for counselling.  I will no longer be able to provide prolonged counselling sessions given the acuity and pace of my practice.  I will have to limit the appointments to medication adjustments.  

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