FAQS

CAN I BE SEEN EVEN IF MY PHYSICIAN IS NOT AVAILABLE?

Our first priority is to book your appointment with your family doctor. Each family doctor reserves 1/3 of all their appointments, which are frozen until the day of service. We take special care to leave adequate room for you to book appointments the day of your problem and at your convenience. Appointments are always available same-day for urgent issues. Please call early in the day to ensure we can fit you in. Our phone lines turn on at 8:30 a.m. If you are sick and need to be seen very urgently and your doctor is not available we will attempt to book you with another doctor in our office but please be aware this is not always possible.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARDS?

A resident of Ontario must have a valid health card to show that he or she is entitled to health care services paid for by OHIP. Please ensure that your OHIP coverage is kept up-to-date at all times.  If your OHIP is expired or due to expire soon, please visit the Service Ontario website for more information on how to renew your OHIP card.  The Ministry of Health will generally send you a reminder notice approximately two months before your OHIP expires.  However, it is your responsibility to ensure that your OHIP coverage is kept up-to-date at all times. Once your OHIP has been renewed, please remember to let our office know of your new OHIP information. Ensuring that your OHIP coverage is valid is critical as we as government funded health care providers are remunerated only for services delivered if you have valid OHIP coverage.

HOW CAN I GET MY PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS REFILLED?

PRESCRIPTION RENEWALS WITHOUT SEEING YOUR DOCTOR

Patients have the option of requesting a renewal of a current prescription prescribed by their current family physician without coming into the clinic. However, if you require a new medication, a change in dose of an existing medication, or if you have any concerns about your current medication, you should book an appointment to see your doctor instead.

HOW CAN I GET MY PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS REFILLED?

If you need a refill on your medication, please contact your pharmacy and ask them to fax a renewal request directly to your doctor. Having your pharmacy fax the request will ensure the name and dosage of the medication are correct, and to avoid errors that happen when prescription renewal requests are communicated by other means.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

Please allow several business days for the request to be processed and returned to the pharmacy as your doctor receives a high volume of requests daily. Ensure you take this processing time into account, and request prescriptions renewals at least one week before your medication runs out. Should you need a prescription renewed more urgently, please book an urgent appointment with your doctor instead.

WILL THERE BE A COST FOR THIS?

A prescription renewal without seeing your physician is not a service that is covered by OHIP. Consequently, you will be directly invoiced for this service.

WHY DID MY DOCTOR ASK ME TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT BEFORE RENEWING MY MEDICATION?

There are certain circumstances when your doctor will want to assess you in person before renewing your medication, in order to determine whether this current medication and dosage are still in your best interests. In this case, you will be notified either by our office or your pharmacist that you need to book an appointment to see your doctor before your prescription can be renewed.

WHAT IF I AM REFERRED TO A SPECIALIST?

If your doctor is referring you to a specialist, the wait time between our office's request for a non-urgent appointment and receiving the appointment can vary from 2 to 6 weeks. If you have not heard from our office 3 weeks after your visit that initiated the referral, please call the office to double-check its status. Additionally, if you have been referred for an imaging test such as a CT/MRI (or other imaging test) and you have not been notified of appointment details within 2-3 weeks, please call our office to double-check its status.

Please ensure we have your current contact information.  For your privacy and assurance that you receive the appointment, we will only relay appointment information to you directly.

HOW DO I ACCESS AFTER-HOURS CARE?

We provide after hours services (our group “walk-in clinic”) through our family doctor group (the South Oakville Family Health Organization) normally from 5pm to 8pm daily. After hours care is provided by family doctors, our colleagues, who we can readily communicate with about your care if required. You can locate these services by calling 905-815-9177 on the day you need to be seen.