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As of Friday September 11, 2020 the COVID Assessment Centre will be located at 400 Southgate Drive.
It is serviced by Guelph Transit route 16, seven days a week. Located near the Hanlon and Laird road, it is easily accessed by car as well.
The Assessment Centre on Victoria Road will close early on September 10 and open in its new location on September 11.
Dr Chan is pleased to announce that she had her baby boy Léopold (Léo) Raymond Brosseau Chan on Tuesday July 7, 2020. He weighed 9 lbs 9 oz at birth. Both mom and baby are recovering well.
This message was e-mailed to patients on June 30, 2020. If you did not receive this message, please call our office to ensure we have your up to date information!
As our Province advances through phases of reopening, Baker Street Medical is happy to be expanding our in person visits. As safety is our first priority, we will continue to offer telephone or virtual visits as the FIRST option. We will only offer in-person visits if physical examination will change your management, you require a hands-on procedure/intervention, or if an in-person visit is in your best interest.
What does this mean?
- Any visit that can be accomplished by virtual means will be booked as such.
- Your visit to the office will be for the purpose of physical exam only. If other issues arise that do not require a physical exam, this will be discussed virtually.
- If you are due for an appointment (Pap smear, Driver’s Physical, Immunizations, etc.) please call our office to book. We will be booking these appointments on a case by case basis only.
What can you expect at your visit?
- Our providers will be alternating work schedules to provide access to care while allowing for social distancing.
- Before your appointment and upon your arrival, you will be asked specific COVID19 screening questions. Please answer honestly. If you answer yes to a screening question, you will often still be seen, but in a different way.
- We have rearranged our waiting room and workspaces to help with social distancing. You may be asked to wait in your car if the waiting room capacity is exceeded.
- Please do not arrive more than 5 minutes prior to your appointment time to avoid crowding.
- Patients and staff are required to wear masks (cloth or surgical) while in the office unless directed otherwise during appointment. Masks are also required to enter the Old Quebec Street Mall.
- We ask that you attend your appointment alone. However, if you have a caregiver who needs to attend the visit with you, they will also need to be screened and wear a mask.
- If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, we ask that you stay home.
- DO NOT COME TO THE OFFICE WITH COVID19 SYMPTOMS UNLESS YOU HAVE CALLED FIRST. We will see if we are able to accommodate you being seen in the office or if it would be better for you to be assessed at the COVID clinic or Emergency Room.
- We will communicate any changes as we move through this process. The most effective way to do this is via email. Please ensure we have your updated contact information on file. Updates will be posted regularly on our website – www.oldquebec208.com
As we adjust our schedules and office flow to support best practices, we ask for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
Baker Street Medical Staff
Note: We may be sending out more email updates as the situation changes. If you have not given your consent to receive emails from our clinic, or if your email has changed, please call our office to update your email with our front staff.
Your family doctor’s office is still open and available to provide you care. Our office hours have not changed - please call with your concerns as you normally would. You will be offered a phone or video virtual visit except in a small number of select cases.
If you are booked for an in-person appointment, please note the following changes for the safety of yourself, other patients and the clinic staff:
- someone will call you the day before your appointment to ensure you do not have any COVID-19 symptoms
- please wear a mask from home if you have one; if you don’t, you will be asked to wear one while in the office
- only one companion will be allowed to come in with you, please do not bring extra people with you to your appointment, as they will be asked to leave and wait in your car
- please try to be on time for your appointment, as we are carefully booking appointments to minimize the number of people in our waiting room
RESOURCES (updated May 19, 2020):
If you are worried you might have COVID-19: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/#q0
REMEMBER: Even if you are low risk for having COVID-19, we still recommend anyone with fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea to STAY HOME and self isolate. You still likely have another infectious virus that we do not want to spread to others at this challenging time. If you’re not sure what to do, stay home and call our office and we can provide further assessment and advice.
Good Advice:
Social Distancing vs Self-Isolation: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-social-distancing-self-isolation-1.5506890
Cleaning Advice: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-surfaces-1.5509619
A Guelph COVID-19 Assessment Clinic is now located on Victoria Road Recreation Centre (151 Victoria Rd N) - please click the link below for information on clinic hours and procedures. If you are worried you may have COVID, you can go to this clinic to determine if you meet criteria for testing.
Guelph Public Health Website About COVID-19 and local assessment centre: https://wdgpublichealth.ca/your-health/covid-19-information-public/assessment-centres-wdg
Ontario COVID-19 Website: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/
Sick Note Questions and COVID: Your employer should NOT be requiring a sick note for illness/quarantine related to COVID-19. This CBC article has a good review of what financial support will be available for those that need it during this time: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/apply-emergency-benefits-1.5501977
EI Website regarding COVID: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/notices/coronavirus.html
New Law Banning Sick Notes: https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/employment-standards-amendment-act-infectious-disease-emergencies-2020.html
WSIB FAQ: https://www.wsib.ca/en/faqs-about-wsib-claims
Advanced Care Planning: We know that certain people, including but not limited to the very elderly and people with chronic respiratory conditions or conditions affecting the immune system, may be more vulnerable to this virus than others. If you fall into a higher risk group or are close to someone who does, we encourage you to have open and honest communication so that intentions are clear about what measures should be taken in the event of critical illness due to Coronavirus infection. Would you want health care providers to take "heroic measures", for example, such as CPR or intubation (which means being attached to a ventilator for breathing)? There is no wrong answer to this type of question, but it is always best for families to feel prepared to honour a person's wishes when decisions must be made. For more information to guide in decision making for the many aspects of end of life care, please visit the following link https://bc-cpc.ca/cpc/all-resources/individuals/about-acp/#1582769103045-061b3622-8e06
We invited our patients to call our office to discuss this challenging topic with your doctor - especially if you wish to be “DNR” there is additional paperwork your doctor can arrange to help support that your wishes are honoured.
Supporting Your Mental Health
Please call our office if you are struggling with worsened mental health during this difficult time. Our doctors and social worker therapists are available to help support you with phone/video visits and check-ins. Here are some other helpful links:
Living with worry and anxiety amidst global uncertainty - a self-help therapy guide (avail in many languages): https://www.psychologytools.com/articles/free-guide-to-living-with-worry-and-anxiety-amidst-global-uncertainty/
Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 - free online course through University of Toronto: https://www.coursera.org/learn/manage-health-covid-19
Word Health Organization Mental Health Advice: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf
CAMH COVID-19 Mental Health Advice: https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-health-and-covid-19
READ BELOW FOR INFORMATION ON HOW WE ARE CHANGING YOUR CARE IN THIS CLINIC:
To our valued patients,
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we will be making changes to the way we deliver your care. Our goal is to minimize potential exposure to as many people as possible, while freeing up resources to attend to those who require urgent care.
Starting immediately - we will no longer be booking routine appointments (for example routine or driver’s physicals). If you have an appointment scheduled currently, you will be contacted to cancel or amend this appointment.
Additionally, we will be reviewing our schedules and incoming appointments - those that can be accomplished safely by telephone or a virtual visit (information to follow) will be booked as such. Those visits that are of a more urgent nature and require an in-person visit, will still be offered this option.
In order to help reduce the spread of the virus - we ask for your help.
If you have respiratory symptoms (cough, cold, fever, runny nose, sore throat), have travelled outside of the country, or have had contact with someone with respiratory symptoms and travel, we ask that you STAY HOME call our office, or Public health at 1-800-265-7293 x 7006 for further direction. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND OUR OFFICE WITHOUT INSTRUCTION IN THIS CASE.
As a community, our responsibility at this time is to minimize the virus spread and the impending impact on our healthcare system. If you are able to delay your elective appointments, we urge you to do so. We also ask that you do not attend the EMERGENCY ROOM unless it is a clear EMERGENCY. There are other modes of testing if you are concerned you have contracted the virus.
In regards to your greater social obligations - we urge you to wash your hands and just stay home. Please reconsider attending large public venues, events and travelling. The more successful we are at social distancing, the best chance we have at minimizing the impact of this virus.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this. These changes will be regularly assessed and are in place until further notice.
Announcement for patients of Dr Joan Chan
Dr Chan will be taking a maternity leave starting June 30, 2020, and returning January 11, 2021.
Dr Kristy Engeland will be taking care of Dr Chan's patients for the duration of her maternity leave - patients can book appointments with her in the same way they usually would book with Dr Chan at this office.
On March 2, 2020 our office was made aware of Public Health Infractions at VICTORIA’S NAIL SALON in Guelph, Ontario.
If you have visited Victoria’s Nail Salon between April 2018 and February 2020, please contact your health care provider about being tested for Hepatitis and HIV.
Please note that you may experience longer than normal wait times as we work through this infraction to provide the best possible health care to our patients. We have nursing staff dedicated to this issue.
When calling, please have the last date of your visit to Victoria’s Nail Salon. This will help determine the required follow up.
The risk of contracting disease from Victoria’s Nail Salon is considered low but cannot be ruled out. Clients who received services during the time period should speak with their health care provider about testing. Alternatively, Public Health will be holding drop-in testing clinics on March 4, 5 and 6 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at 160 Chancellors Way in Guelph. Public Health has also set up a call centre to answer the public’s questions at 1-800-265-7293 ext. 7011.
News Sources & More Information:
To protect the health of our patients, staff, physicians and our community we have implemented screening protocol at our clinic as outlined by Public Health. As a result, you may experience longer than normal wait times on the phone or at check in. We are working hard to ensure the delays are minimal.
This is a quickly evolving situation and we are working to stay up-to-date.
Thank you for complying with our screening requests.
There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses. Take these everyday steps to reduce exposure to the virus and protect your health:
wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer
sneeze and cough into your sleeve
avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
avoid contact with people who are sick
stay home if you are sick
If you are travelling to an area known to have cases of coronavirus, be sure to avoid:
high-risk areas such as farms, live animal markets and areas where animals may be slaughtered
contact with animals (alive or dead), including pigs, chickens, ducks and wild birds
surfaces with animal droppings or secretions on them
More information:
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health updates click here
Government of Ontario update click here
January 9th, 2020 -
If you still use a red and white health card, it’s time to easily replace it with the more secure photo health card. Doing so will help protect Ontario’s health care system against potential fraud. As of July 1, 2020, red and white health cards will no longer be accepted as proof of Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage for insured health services.
IF YOU PRESENT WITH A RED AND WHITE HEALTH CARD AFTER JULY 1, 2020,
THERE WILL BE A CHARGE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT.
How to update your health card (it’s easy and there is no fee!)
https://www.ontario.ca/page/switch-photo-health-card
More information from CBC:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/red-white-health-cards-ontario-end-date-july-1.5420362
If you have any questions, please call our office at 519-837-2283 or visit your local ServiceOntario location. Once you have updated your health card, please notify our office.
This year's flu clinics will be on the following dates and times - please call our office to book your slot OR click this link to book ONLINE:
Friday October 25 - 9:30-11:30
Monday November 4 - 9:00 - 11:30, 1:30-4:00
Monday November 25 starting at 9:00 AM
You also have the option of attending the Public Health flu clinics, which are available on their website here: https://www.wdgpublichealth.ca/clinics-classes/flu-clinics
Adults and older children also have the option to receive their flu shot at a local pharmacy. Please call our office to inform us if you have your flu shot done at a pharmacy, in order to keep our records up to date.
Watch this space for more dates and times as they are added!
