Ontario residents can avoid busy or shuttered emergency rooms by tapping into Virtual Urgent Care.
Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) are offering Ontarians a way to quickly and easily connect with a health care provider, even if they're at the cottage.
Dr. Rod Lim, Medical Director of Paediatric Emergency Department at LHSC, said the service is ideal for immediate medical attention for non-life-threatening issues, or if the patient does not have a family doctor.
"Often, families and patients will have a concern that's been ongoing," he continued. "They're not sure if it is something that requires urgent attention, or something that can wait for a number of days or weeks to see their primary care physician, or they may not have a primary care practitioner, then a virtual appointment may be ideal for them."
Whenever possible, Lim recommended patients try to see their family doctor, however a virtual urgent care provider may be the best choice when a primary care provider is not available.
"What we don't want to see as anyone who has an acute complaint where they really need to go to the emergency department," he stressed. "So difficulty breathing, changing their mental status, severe headaches, chest pain, those things are best dealt with in the emergency department or by calling 911."
Appointments for children and adults are covered by OHIP. Patients just need a computer, smartphone, or tablet with access to email and the internet for same-day appointments.
"People who are from Southwestern Ontario can go directly to the website, urgentcareontario.ca, and they can read through some important information as to as to the type of patients are suited to the service, and they can book an appointment right there," explained Lim.
People can also book a secure video chat or phone call by calling 1-844-227-3844.
"They're offered either same day, or sometimes the previous day booking, and they can get a virtual appointment with one of our nurse practitioners, and they're able to work through the problems," he added. "Some things we're able to deal with at that time, such as reassurance or some guidance as to the best next place to go. And sometimes, just from a responsibility point of view, we just can't make a proper assessment because of our inability to touch the patient."
Lim says thousands of patients have taken advantage of the virtual urgent care service since its inception during the pandemic.