Great Lakes Clinic hopes to offer walk-in services to those without a primary care physician in the city and eventually absorb all 10,000 patients removed from the roster by Group Health. There is.
Two family physicians are leaving the group health center and are set to open a brand new practice next month at Second Line East. They will soon take all 3,000 patients who will be deregistered.
Dr. Kiran Waqas and Dr. Manjeet Singh will begin accepting patients on June 4 at their new Great Lakes clinic on the plaza across from Michael's Arts and Crafts store.
The move comes nearly four months after Group Health announced that 10,000 of its patients had lost access to primary care as of May 31, and as the deadline approaches. Many questions arise.
Great Lakes Clinic, located at 710 Second Line East, Unit 6, offers a wide range of services including preventive care, chronic disease management, immunizations and vaccinations, and wellness exams, in addition to general family medicine practices and walk-in clinics . and a physical examination.
We also offer special appointments such as newborn follow-up visits, post-discharge visits, prenatal visits, diabetes clinics, and routine male and female exams.
Not only will 30 percent of the patients removed from Group Health's roster gain access to new care, but so will everyone in Sault Ste. Dr Singh said Marie had a health card, including those without a family doctor.
“Patients who are registered with us can book an appointment online or walk in,” she explained. “People who are not part of our clinic will have to walk in because their health card information is not in our system.”
Family practice appointments will be available to book online starting June 4, while walk-in clinics will be on a first-come, first-served basis with no reservations required.
Business hours include weekends.
Tuesday to Friday: 10am to 2pm, 4pm to 7pm Saturday to Sunday: 10am to 2pm Monday: Closed
“This is very much a walk-in. It's urgent care,” Dr. Waqas said. “We hope this will keep patients away from the ER and bring them to us. If a patient comes in with a broken bone or pneumonia and needs an X-ray, they will instead go to the hospital's radiology department. That would be a big win for everyone. The hospital was also very supportive.”
Dr. Waqas began his practice in Sault in 2019 after completing his family medicine residency at the Northern Ontario College of Physicians. She has been working at a group health center for the past five years.
During the pandemic, Dr. Singh moved from southern Ontario and began working at Group Health in 2020, where she met Dr. Waqas. Both are employed by Group Health until May 31st and are happily raising young families in Sault.
Recently, the pair came to the conclusion that opening their own clinic was the only viable option to ensure patients did not lose access to vital services.
So they got to work.
“We have spent the past six months consulting with the ministry and advocating on behalf of our patients,” Dr. Waqas said. “There's something called a family practice organization model where you can set up a family practice, but she needs six doctors to do that. We're making this exception because of the severe health care crisis in Sault Ste. I convinced the Ministry of Health to give it to me.”
“They allowed us to start a family practice with two doctors instead of six, and we were able to retain patients thanks to the Ministry of Health,” she said. continued. “Running this clinic was very difficult, from the financial complexities to meeting different people. But we were able to build this clinic ourselves from start to finish. .”
While it seems like a lot for just two doctors to run such a high-demand resource, Dr. Waqas said more help is available.
The pilot program, called Practice-Ready Assessment, is expected to bring several internationally trained family physicians from southern Ontario to the Great Lakes clinic for 12 weeks of supervised training by both physicians. ing.
Candidates who successfully complete the assessment will be required to complete a three-year return-to-service agreement and practice in an Ontario community designated by the Ministry.
“We hope to make a positive impression on them in our clinic and in the community and gain candidates to start family practices here in town,” Dr. Waqas said. “Over the next year or two, he wants to absorb all 10,000 patients who will be deregistered.”
“There are no proper GPs or walk-in clinics here that are accessible on weekends or after hours,” she continued. “That's why we're able to hire more doctors, because our clinic has a family practice, we have a walk-in practice, and we have all these other special services.”
Dr. Waqas and Dr. Singh plan to complete the first version of the team in the coming days by adding three nurses, two volunteers, and a front desk worker.
Letters are expected to be delivered this week to Group Health's 3,000 patients informing them of the transition of services to 710 Second Line East, Unit 6.
Great Lakes Clinic will officially begin accepting patients on June 4th.
“We're relieved that patients are following us,” Dr. Singh said. “We are excited to offer more services to the community.”
“Our goal is to treat everyone,” Dr. Waqas added. “We love this city and we love our patients. This is a big step for our community. It's health care for everyone.”
