Call Us Anytime:
Whether it’s 2:00 PM or 2:00 AM, your first call should always be to our clinic. We provide continuous coverage to ensure you receive safe, coordinated care from the team that knows you best.
During Office Hours: Speak directly with our clinical team to manage your health needs in real-time.
After Hours & Weekends: Your call will be handled by our Integrated AI Health Assistant. This secure, PHIPA-compliant tool provides instant symptom triage and can flag your concerns for priority review by your physician the next business morning.
Why Call Us First?
Continuous Coverage: You get professional guidance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Unified Records: Every interaction—day or night—is recorded directly into your official medical file.
Safety & Quality: Avoid the risks of fragmented care at outside walk-in clinics. By staying within our ecosystem, you ensure your treatment is consistent with your long-term health goals.
⚠️ EMERGENCY NOTICE: If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency (such as chest pain or severe difficulty breathing), do not call the clinic. Call 911 immediately or proceed to the nearest Emergency Department.
To provide you with the highest standard of medical care, we operate as a “Clinic First” practice. This ensures that your medical records remain centralized and that every treatment is overseen by the team most familiar with your health history.
The Importance of In-House Care:
Coordinated Records: Outside clinics typically do not share consultation notes with us. Centralized records prevent dangerous gaps in your history and avoid duplicate testing.
Long-term Safety: Your primary physician is best equipped to manage chronic conditions and long-term health goals.
Patient Enrollment: Our practice model relies on maintaining a consistent “Continuity of Care” threshold. To ensure we can continue providing comprehensive services, we prioritize roster spots for patients who utilize our clinic as their primary point of care. Patients who frequently seek non-emergency care elsewhere may be de-rostered to make space for those waiting for local primary care.
Need Urgent Care? If you have an urgent medical concern, please call us first. we strive to offer timely appointments to minimize your need for outside services.
We utilize a secure, AI-powered assistant to provide support when our office is closed. This tool is designed to help you navigate your health needs efficiently but is not a replacement for a physician’s clinical judgment.
How it supports you:
Initial Triage: Describe your symptoms to receive guidance on the appropriate level of care (e.g., home care vs. an urgent appointment).
Administrative Support: Request follow-up appointments or get answers to clinic policy questions.
Secure Integration: Information shared with the AI is logged directly into your secure medical record for our team to review.
CRITICAL SAFETY NOTICE:
If you are experiencing a medical emergency—such as chest pain, shortness of breath, severe allergic reaction, or sudden weakness—do not use the AI assistant. Call 911 immediately or proceed to the nearest Emergency Department.
At our clinic, we utilize advanced Artificial Intelligence to prioritize your health and ensure our physicians can focus entirely on you during your visit.
1. Ambient AI Scribe (Documentation) To improve the patient experience, we use an AI Scribe during consultations.
Purpose: This tool allows your physician to maintain eye contact and listen to you without the distraction of typing.
How it works: The AI securely transcribes our conversation to create a clinical summary.
Your Control: Your physician reviews and edits every note for 100% accuracy before it is finalized. If you prefer not to have the AI Scribe used during your visit, please simply notify your physician or the front desk.
2. Integrated EMR Assistant (Clinical Support) Our Avaros Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is equipped with built-in AI to enhance clinical safety.
Safety Checks: The system assists in identifying potential drug interactions and alerts us to overdue preventative screenings (like paps or blood work).
Secure Environment: This AI operates entirely within our encrypted, PHIPA-compliant EMR. Your data never leaves the secure system.
A Note on Your Privacy & Consent By choosing to receive care at our clinic, you acknowledge the use of these tools as part of our standard medical record-keeping and quality assurance processes. We use these technologies to provide safer, more accurate, and more attentive care. All medical decisions and diagnoses continue to be made solely by your physician.
Our patient portal is the primary gateway to your care. By centralizing our scheduling through this platform, we ensure that every appointment is properly categorized and triaged for the highest level of clinical safety.
Secure Online Booking:
Instant Scheduling: Book your next visit in seconds without waiting on hold.
Smart Reminders: Receive automatic email notifications so your health remains a priority.
Direct Integration: Every booking syncs instantly with your secure medical record, allowing our team to prepare for your visit in advance.
Our Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy: To ensure we can provide timely care to all our patients—especially those requiring urgent “Rapid Access” care—appointments cannot be canceled or modified through the online portal.
Call to Cancel: If you need to reschedule, you must call our office directly.
24-Hour Requirement: We require a minimum of 24 hours’ notice for all cancellations.
The Reason: This allows staff to immediately offer your vacated spot to another patient waiting for urgent medical attention.
Missed Appointment Fees: Appointments canceled with less than 24 hours’ notice or missed without contact will be subject to a fee. These fees are not covered by OHIP.
We believe that when you are unwell, the last thing you should worry about is an appointment slot or a long wait. To provide you with the ultimate convenience while maintaining the highest quality of care, we have replaced traditional walk-in services with a dedicated Rapid Access model.
How it works: If you have an urgent medical issue, you do not need to call ahead. Simply come to the clinic during our dedicated Urgent Care hours, and our team will strive to have you seen by a provider within one hour.
Urgent Care Hours:
Mornings: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Afternoons: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Care and Convenience:
No More Outside Walk-ins: By coming directly to your primary care home, your visit is instantly added to your medical record.
No More Long Waits: Our “Rapid Access” blocks are designed specifically to handle acute issues efficiently.
Continuity of Care: You are seen by the team that knows your history, medications, and health goals.
Please Note: These blocks are for urgent, episodic issues (e.g., infections, minor injuries, acute pain). For routine check-ups, medication renewals, or complex chronic disease management, please book a standard appointment through our portal to ensure we have dedicated time for a comprehensive review.
Our goal is to provide high-quality medical care while maintaining a streamlined office workflow. Please review our policies regarding services not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).
Prescription Renewals
We strive to make managing your medications as seamless as possible. In many cases, an office visit is not required for routine renewals.
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How to Request: Ask your pharmacist to fax a renewal request to our office 7–10 days before you run out.
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Our Timeline: Please allow 48–72 hours for your physician to review and process these requests.
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Billing Notice: While faxed prescription renewals are a billable uninsured service under OMA guidelines, our clinic currently provides this as a complimentary service for our rostered patients.
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Important: Please do not call the office to check the status of a renewal. To keep our phone lines open for urgent medical needs, we ask that you check with your pharmacy directly.
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Urgent Processing: If you require same-day processing of a renewal due to a late request, this will be treated as an urgent uninsured service and will incur a fee as per the latest OMA guidelines.
Uninsured Services (Non-OHIP)
Many administrative tasks are not funded by OHIP and require significant time from both your physician and our staff. These are billed as per the latest OMA Schedule of Fees.
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Common Uninsured Services: Sick notes, insurance forms, driver’s physicals, legal reports, and same-day urgent renewals.
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Payment Policy: These fees are the responsibility of the patient and are due at the time the service is requested or performed.
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Transparency: A full list of current OMA-recommended fees is available at our front desk.
If you have a health concern outside of our regular clinic hours, we are available to help you.
- Call us at 1-866-553-7205
- You’ll then be connected with a licensed telehealth nurse who can speak with you about your health concern and you will be directed to the on-call physician when appropriate.
On call service is available on weekdays after 5pm and 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday, including holidays.
If you feel your health condition may be life-threatening, immediately call 911 for Emergency Medical Services.
Affiliated Organizations
Hamilton Family Health Team
Upper Ottawa Pharmacy
905-389-2326
Hours of operation:
Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm
Fri 9am-12noon