Prescription Renewals

Clinic Information and Policies

Updated Due to COVID-19 Our physician team at Kemptville Health and Wellness Centre (KHWC) is part of a Family Health Organization (FHO). A FHO is a group of family physicians who work together to give you and your family better access to quality primary care services. The physicians at this clinic are committed to supporting each other’s patients for urgent medical issues when your primary care physician is not available. In addition, the centre will provide extended hours to ensure access to medical services. In this model patients are rostered to a family physician and make a commitment to their doctor to seek all of their primary care from the group that works at KHWC. The team at KHWC feels it is in the best interest of you, your physician and your continuity of care that you make every effort to visit our clinic for all of your medical needs. For this reason, we attempt to accommodate our patients within a short period of time as outlined in the Appointment Information section. Signing of this policy confirms your understanding of the importance of receiving your medical care from the Kemptville Health and Wellness Centre team.

Appointment Information

The clinic is open Monday to Friday, with evening hours Monday through Thursday 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m and Saturday 9-12. There will be a limited number of ‘first come first served’ evening openings, as there will be 1 physician working each evening. Each physician has their own schedule of office hours and you should discuss these at your initial visit with your new physician. The clinic offers same day appointments (subject to availability) for medical issues that require same day attention. In order to reserve one of these spots, you will need to call the office to book an appointment before 5pm. Preferably your appointment will always be booked with your family physician, however if he/she is unavailable you may access the walk in clinic during our walk in hours. Physicians do keep same day appointments for their patients during their schedule that may be booked by calling the morning of during your physicians office hours. Due to COVID-19 all appointments will be scheduled by phone or virtual appointments, unless deemed essential by your Physician. During your virtual or phone appointment if your Physician requires you to be seen in clinic they will advise our staff to coordinate. For in person visits: Please arrive at your scheduled appointment time and practice social distancing throughout your visit within the clinic. All patients are screened upon arrival and are required to wear a mask. Please follow direction of all staff and Physicians during your visit as we have implanted many safety measures for our patients, staff and Physicians. In order to allow the clinic to function on time, and to respect the other patients, your physician may be unable to see you if you arrive late. For virtual and phone appointments: Please ensure you are available 15 minutes prior and 45 minutes past your scheduled appointment time. Please ensure your phone number, email address and pharmacy are accurate to ensure they're no delays in the appointment or patient care. Physicians may call from their personal phones and the call will appear as unknown or private number. Please check your settings on your personal phone to ensure your able to receive their incoming call. Messages will not be left and appointment will need to be rebooked if you miss your phone appointment. Please note: If your OHIP card is found to be expired or invalid for any reason at your appointment, the clinic reserves the right to ask for a deposit or payment for this appointment. This payment will be reimbursed with presentation of a valid health card with an eligibility date that covers the date of service.

No Show Policy

Missed appointments deny other patients access to medical care. If you do not show up for an appointment, you will be charged a fee between $40.00 and $75.00, depending on your visit type. If you are unable to attend your appointment for any reason, please call the office a minimum of 24 hours in advance to cancel. If adequate cancellation notice is not provided, you will be subject to the missed appointment fee. Multiple missed appointments without adequate reason could be grounds for dismissal from the practice. Patients who arrive late may not be seen or may need to wait until the patients who arrived on time have been seen. These may also be classified as “missed” appointments and therefore subject to the missed appointment fee. Staff do not automatically cancel an existing appointment on your behalf unless instructed by you to do so.  If you book another appointment or if your medical issue is dealt with in another manner, it is your responsibility to ensure any outstanding/future appointments are cancelled, in order to avoid a missed appointment fee. As a general rule, we do not call to remind patients of their upcoming appointments. Patients are responsible to ensure they keep track of their appointment information.

E-Mail Policy

In order to receive email updates, you must agree to our email consent policy. We generally only send email to our patients at the direction of your physician or for appointment reminders.

Non-Insured Services

Several of our services are not covered by OHIP, UHIP, or typical insurance, therefore the cost of these services is charged to patients. Examples follow.

Third Party Examinations and Forms

These are examinations requested by a third-party such as pre-employment physicals, driver's medicals, camp physicals, etc. If there is a form that needs to be filled out, it is probably a "third party examination."

The fee for this service will be $45 - $125 depending on the extent of the required examination and the complexity of the form. While our physicians strive to complete forms in a timely manner, please note that form completions in accordance with OMA and CPSO guidelines, physicians have 60 days for completion of forms.

Travel Medical Visits

Any medical service related to travel outside of Canada is not insured. The cost for our travel service is $50. This fee covers a consultation with the physician for travel advice and a follow up visit with the nurse, if needed. [At the time of your physician consultation, if you require immunizations for your travel, a prescription will be written. You must book an appointment with the nurse to get your injection(s)/immunizations(s). There is an additional fee for injection(s)/immunizations(s).

Other Non-Insured Services

- TB tests 45 (unless medically warranted) for employment (1 step, includes form completion) - TB tests $70 for employment (2 step, includes form completion)

- Wart treatments: Plantar and genital warts are insured. The charge for other warts is $40 per treatment

Paying for Non-Insured Services

- Payment can be made by cheque or cash (exact change).

- There is a $40 charge for all NSF cheques.

Abuse and Harassment Policy

This office has zero tolerance for abusive or disrespectful behavior towards our staff, our colleagues or fellow patients.  Any instance of abuse and harassment (i.e. physical, verbal, etc.) may result in immediate dismissal from the practice and termination of the patient-physician relationship. You may be asked to find a new physician outside of KHWC if this breach of policy occurs.

Narcotics/Special Medications Policy

Given the risk of abuse of these medications, in general, KHWC greatly restricts prescribing them. It is at the discretion of your family physician and if you are on these types of medications, you should discuss this with your physician at your Meet and Greet appointment. If your physician agrees to prescribe this type of medication for you, you will be required to sign a Narcotic Contract, and may be subject to random urine drug screening. The medications will be dispensed in small batches for easy monitoring. All renewals of controlled substances will be done by appointment ONLY and by your family physician only (will not be renewed by another KHWC physician during coverage periods). Requests will not be renewed by fax and any requests from the pharmacy will be refused.   Any breach to the Narcotics Contract could result in dismissal from the practice and will result in discontinuation of further narcotic and other controlled substance prescription renewals. You may discuss prescription of medical marijuana individually with your family physician.

Medication Renewals Policy

It is the patient’s responsibility to book appointments to renew your medications before they run out. Your physician will always prescribe you enough medication to last until they wish to see you again for a follow up visit.  It is important that you are seen for medication renewals, as your medical condition needs to be reassessed and side effects discussed, which impact on the renewal.  In the event you are unable to make an appointment you can have your pharmacy send a prescription renewal request via fax to your physicians office. Exceptions: Renewal requests due to exceptional circumstances will be assessed by your physician on a case by case basis as doctor’s schedules can fill up quickly, please ensure you are calling to book your medication renewal appointment a few weeks before you run out of your medication. It is best practice to book your next medication renewal appointment before you leave the office.

Unvaccinated Patients Policy

If you choose not to vaccinate yourself or your children and there is an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, you may be asked to only visit the clinic at certain times in order to not come in contact with others at risk of infection from these diseases (babies, cancer patients, patients with immunodeficiency disorders).

Internal Transfers

We do not routinely allow patients to transfer to another KHWC physician within the centre. If there is a concern with the care you are receiving, it is expected that you will speak directly to your physician about your concerns and reservations. If the issues cannot be resolved, you will need to discuss the option of an internal transfer with your physician and ask him/her to arrange for another KHWC physician to take over your care.

Things to consider

The physicians work as a team to provide primary care. They support each other’s patients throughout the day, week and year when the primary care physician is not available. You may see another doctor for emergency/urgent care if your doctor is not available. You should take into consideration that if you leave one doctor in the group for another – your original doctor may still be involved in providing your health care and you may still have to interact with them. Because of this, as a general rule, we would recommend that you consider finding another doctor outside of Kemptville Health and Wellness Centre if you are unhappy with your doctor. Our clinic is open and welcoming of all genders, ages, ethnicities and sexual orientations. We hope you feel that this is an open and nonjudgmental place where you can be yourself.