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.
