Appointments

In an emergency call 911

Call 811 for medical advice

811 is a free-of-charge provincial health information and advice phone line available in British Columbia. The 811 phone line is operated by HealthLink BC, which is part of the Ministry of Health. By calling 811, you can speak to a health service navigator, who can help you find health information and services; or connect you directly with a registered nurse, a registered dietician, a qualified exercise professional, or a pharmacist. Any one of these healthcare professionals will help you get the information you need to manage your health concerns, or those of your family.

Scheduling Appointments

Appointments are currently scheduled by phone or online. Calls are answered Monday to Thursday 0830-1630 and Friday 0930 -1530. Phone lines are extremely busy. Feel free to leave a message, we will return your call as soon as possible.

Most physicians, but not all have a 2-3 day wait time for non-urgent appointments. Please plan ahead for medication refill appointments. Contact the office when you pick up your last refill from the pharmacy to book for follow up refills. If you will run out before you can get an appointment your pharmacist will be able to give you a week’s emergency supply.

You can now book appointments online ! Medeo | Telemedicine software | Patient Messaging | Online Booking (medeohealth.com)

Our front desk staff can set you up over the phone or in person. You will need an email address to register. It is simple and quick.

You will be able to book for phone call visits at this point only. In person visits will be added soon. Special consultations such as driver’s physicals and procedures need to be booked via reception. Appointment reminders are also available.

Please note that all appointments are 10 minutes. Given the duration your doctor can only thoroughly focus and manage one to perhaps two issues during the visit. We will welcome you back for another visit if there are more issues you need help with.

Please know that we are doing our best to serve you and our community during the pandemic and simultaneous crisis in Family Medicine. Our fee codes sadly do not support longer visits or dealing with numerous issues in a single visit. Please advocate with us for system reform by contacting your MLA and support organizations such as BC Health Care Matters, everyonedeservesafamilydoc.org

Make the most out of your visit

Making the most of your appointments.
We have a handy printable form you can complete at home or in the waiting room to help plan your visit. Help us to help you. This will help you make note of all your concerns, we will get to see the bigger picture as well as the smaller moving parts. It will also help you understand how doctors work in real time and help us to set up a plan to address all your concerns, based on priority and in good time.

New Patients

Please make sure you are registered with health connect registry, once accepted by the clinic, download and complete the new patient intake form at home in advance.

Please download and complete the form below. Once completed, email to ctnyreception@gmail.com

New Patient Form

Same day Rapid Access Time (RAT’s) for urgent issues

We reserve a few appointment slots daily for urgent fit-in appointments. They are only made available at 8:30 in the morning for that particular day.
This ensures that we can see sick patients for whom a time delay can be detrimental e.g. sick babies, flare up of COPD, heart failure, infections, new injuries.

If these appointments are not filled we will make them available to anybody else who would like to come in that day. You may be pleasantly surprised to get a same day spot if you call. If you are very ill and your physician’s RAT appointments are already full, another physician in the office may see you if they have open appointments.

They will have access to your chart, but may need to ask more questions to fully appreciate your health status. These appointments are short and focused on a particular problem only.

Complex Care visits & Chronic Disease Management visits

We will call you on a yearly basis to schedule these visits, once your physician indicates the need for it. These appointments are longer than regular visits and allow us to plan your healthcare with you. It is only applicable if you have a combination of 2 or more chronic illnesses including diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, chronic lung disease such as COPD, degenerative brain disease such as dementia, previous stroke and severe frailty.

Chronic illnesses such as COPD

Chronic illnesses such as COPD require a once a year visit to ensure we keep you as healthy as possible and reduce your risks. Patients with moderate to severe COPD will have a once yearly visit to set up a COPD action plan to treat flare ups at home and reduce the risk for hospital admission. We will often do this with a regular visit such as medication refills.

Pregnancy

We will see all patients for early pregnancy diagnosis, initial investigation and referral to our colleagues for ongoing pre-natal care. We are happy to refer to family physicians who practice obstetrics or midwives. We will continue to see our patients for all other health related issues during their pregnancies. Their babies will automatically become our patients after birth.

Termination of pregnancy
We support females’ reproductive rights and will refer to abortion clinics when requested.

Flu Clinics

Please contact the office to set up your yearly. Flu vaccine appointment. Our Flu Clinics are normally held end of October or early November.

Advance care planning

We highly advise that all adult patients have an advance care plan. This will allow us to know your values and wishes for care in the event that you are unable to speak for yourself. You can do this from your home and share your document with us later. You can appoint a substitute decision maker so we will also know who you wanted in charge of your medical decisions if you are incapacitated. We are happy to discuss this with you during a routine visit if we have a few minutes left. See our resources section for more information. If you have a living will we would be happy to have a copy on your file.

Physicals, Drivers medicals, Pre-op Examinations

These examinations require extra time before you see your physician and you will be asked to arrive at least 10 minutes early. A height, weight, eye examination or urine sample may be required depending on the type of examination.

Complete physical examinations
Complete physicals are not funded by MSP as a routine examination or annual service unless there is a clear medical reason for it. Routine full physicals do not reduce the death rate in the general population. Your physician will invite you to attend a full physical exam if it is required to investigate your health problem. When a physical is booked it is with focus on that specific problem and will not allow time for other unrelated issues. You are welcome to use our Make the most of your visit form to alert us to other issues at hand and to ensure we keep it in mind during the physical and to plan for follow up as needed.

Drivers medical examinations
Please allow for extra time before your actual appointment time. For drivers examinations for ages 79+ a cognitive test will be performed as well as the standard medical examination. This is a lot to accomplish in a single visit. We will welcome you back if any other issues need attention. Please see the services section for more information.

Pre-op medicals
Pre-op medicals require a visit with staff prior to seeing the physician to do measurements and complete a questionnaire. Please allow an additional 10 minutes before your actual appointment time to accomplish this. Please see our services section for more information on types of pre-op physicals.

preventative health care visit

You can book a regular visit to ensure we attend to your preventative care needs e.g. cardiovascular health, colon cancer screening, lung cancer screening, pap smears, prostate exams, vaccinations. This includes well baby and well child routine visits at ages 6 weeks, 2 , 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24
months and 5 years.

Cardiovascular screening
All patients over age 40 should check their blood pressure at a pharmacy once a year. Patients with a family history of premature heart disease e.g. heart attack in a parent or sibling (men younger than 55 and females younger than 65) should discuss that with their physician. All patients over 40 should have screening for diabetes every 5 years.

Pap smears
Women aged 24-69 should have pap smears to prevent cervical cancer. We automatically recall women who are due for pap smears if they have had a previous pap smear in our clinic. The usual follow up interval is 3 years. Some patients may require more frequent follow up.

Patients aged 50- 74 will be enrolled in the BC colon cancer screening program during a visit. The 2 yearly recall will automatically be managed by the BC colon cancer screening program. Those patients who require colonoscopies will either require referral by their physician for follow up at the specific time interval or may be booked by the screening program depending on the reason for colonoscopy.

Mammograms
Women 40-80 years of age are recommended to have a mammogram every 2 years for breast cancer screening. It can be booked telephonically by the patient themselves through the BC Breast cancer screening program. Phone 1-800-663-9203 . Reminders and results get mailed to patients once they are enrolled. Patients with prior breast cancer or breast implants are required to visit their physician to arrange for a diagnostic mammogram.

Lung cancer screening
Patients aged 50-74 with a smoking history of at least 30 pack years (i.e. 1 pack year = 20 cigarettes per day for a year) can consider getting a low dose CT scan yearly to detect early lung cancer.

AAA screening
All men should have an abdominal ultrasound once between the ages of 50-70 to check for an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Women are at much lower risk and do not require screening.

Prostate cancer
Men with a family history of prostate cancer should have yearly prostate screening (PSA blood test and a rectal examination) from age 50-70. Men with no family history can choose to do prostate screening or not. To help you make this decision we recommend talking to your physician.

HIV & Sexually Transmitted Diseases
All adult patients should consider screening for HIV from ages 18-70 every 5 years.. We will gladly do sexual transmitted illness screening in those who ask, in whom it is medically indicated and in all pregnant patients in early pregnancy. Hepatitis C screening is offered for patients born between 1945-1975.

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)

All our physicians are supportive of patients who wish to discuss Medical Assistance in Dying as an option of care. We will supply information about MAID as well as all your other care options if you so wish. We may ask how you feel about MAID first to know if it is something you wish for us to bring up in conversation or not. All our physicians also provide palliative care. We see MAID as an option on the menu of end of life care.

We feel strongly that our patients should receive excellent care at all times and no less so at End of Life. We are not scared to have difficult conversations about death and dying – we know most people are a bit frightened of what may come and are nervous to talk about their fears. We will talk about it as much or little as you need. Talking about your goals, hopes and fears may help us figure out together how to best care for you. We want to respect your wishes and ensure we walk this road with you.

All our physicians are knowledgeable about MAID and can explain the process to you and your family. All our full time physicians can complete formal MAID assessments. Dr. Daws is one of the local MAID providers and would be happy to provide further information upon request. Your family physician can refer you to Dr. Daws or any MAID provider locally.

For further information go to https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/medical-assistance-dying/medical-assistance-dying

Other

Various other appointments types e.g. trigger point injections, biopsies and other surgical procedures, Botox for migraine, etc. require different appointment lengths. Most of these consultations are booked after discussion with your physician or after receipt of a referral and consultation by the specific providing physician. Wait times for access to these treatments also vary widely.