Same Day Appointments and the use of walk-in clinics

The Ministry of Health (MOH) expects patients to seek medical care at their primary family physician’s office. Ontario is currently experiencing a health care crisis with millions of Ontarian’s without a family physician. Although walk-in-clinics (WIC) will see any patient who visits, they are best for patients who do not have a family doctor. WIC do not have access to your past medical history, medications or allergies. They also do not provide us information about your visit or any test results/clinical findings or concerns. This results in fragmentation of your health care.

Bloom Family Practice offers same day appointments with your own family physician for urgent matters that are accessible by calling our office at 647-420-5033. These same day appointments are often not available through the portal. If you do not see an appointment online and your concern is urgent, please call the office to see if we are able to accommodate you. 

Our After-Hours Clinics also run Monday to Thursday from 5-8pm, and Saturday from 9am-3pm. These appointments are also for urgent issues that cannot wait for the next available appointment with your own family physician. After-Hours Clinics are held at Bloom, or one of our other 2 partner clinics (Bellair or Bay Charles) both also located in Yorkville. After-hours clinic is by appointment only. Please call our office at 647-420-5033 during office hours or call 647-417-3535 after 5pm to secure an urgent appointment.

The MOH notifies us once per month of patients in our practice who visit a WIC and then deducts the cost of that service from our clinic. People who continue to use WICs will be derostered. According to the College Of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, when patients repeatedly access walk-in clinics, this may reflect a breakdown in the physician-patient relationship and may be precedent for dismissal from the practice altogether.