Flu Clinics 2024

Please note that we will be receiving our shipment of flu shots in the early days of November.  If you were already on our call back list, you will be getting a call to book your appointment.  If you are not already on the call back list, please call our front desk at 905-279-1700 to book a flu shot appointment.  We have set the following dates to run flu shot clinics:

Tuesday November 5:  9 am to 4 pm

Wednesday November 6:  9 am to 4:30 pm

Thursday November 7:  9 am to 4 pm

Tuesday November 12:  9 am to 4 pm

Wednesday November 13:  9 am to 4:30 pm

Thursday November 14:  9 am to 4 pm

Please note that we will add more clinics as required to vaccinate as many of our patients as possible.  Thank you very much for your patience, and for understanding that it is not possible for our nurses to administer flu shots during regular office appointments as we manage regular clinic workflow each day.

Pilot Project:  Minor Ailment Prescribing with Pharmacist Mena Ibrahim and the Team from MDM Pharmacy at Dixie Road Medical

Beginning Tuesday February 20 2024, Mena Ibrahim and his team will be offering pharmacy-led Minor Ailment Prescribing for our DRMA patients.

Patients will be able to log onto MDM to book a same-day or next-day phone call or video call with Mena or another team member, or may be directed to do so when calling our office to speak to a medical office assistant (MOA) or a nurse for one of the minor health conditions the Ministry of Health (MOH) deems appropriate for pharmacy-led Minor Ailment Prescribing:

The list of minor ailments includes:  Acne, Allergic rhinitis, Aphthous Ulcers (canker sores), Candidal stomatitis (oral thrush), Conjunctivitis (bacterial, allergic and viral), Dermatitis/Rash (atopic, eczema, allergic and contact), Diaper dermatitis, Dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramp pain), Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Hemorrhoids, Herpes labialis (oral cold sores), Impetigo, Insect bites and urticaria (hives) Tick bites (post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent Lyme Disease), Musculoskeletal sprains and strains (ankle, shoulder, etc.), Pinworms and threadworms, Urinary tract infections (uncomplicated), Vulvovaginal candidiasis (yeast infection)

Here is the link for Main Drug Mart at mdmpharmacy.com and where patients can select the button for “Virtual Clinic Minor Ailments”:

MDM Pharmacy at Dixie Road

We hope that the benefits of this pilot project for our Dixie Road patients will be:

1. The ability for us to provide more same-day service to DRMA patients between appointments with our physician team and with Mena and the MDM Pharmacy Team
2. Saving more of our urgent same-day and same-week in-office appointments for patients who require physician assessment for more complicated issues.
3. Fast access to an appointment with one of the physicians on our team when Mena and the MDM Team are not able to fully manage a concern and notify us that a doctor’s appointment is needed.

Please Don’t Use Walk-In Clinics! 

Call DRMA for a same-day, next-day or same-week appointment for urgent matters, and remember that our Friday Night and Saturday After-Hours Clinics Run Every Week with the Only Exception Being Statutory Holidays

Monday through Friday from 8:00 am-8:00 pm our physician team reserves same-day access appointments for our Dixie Road patients.  Our Friday Night 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am- 3:00 pm clinic hours can be accessed by calling in during those hours to secure an In-Person or Virtual Care appointment slot, and walk-in patients will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis as well based on appointment availability.  The reasons we ask you NOT to use a walk-in clinic are:

1.  It is always safer and smarter for your own doctor or another physician on our team to see you.  We have your medical records and a more comprehensive understanding of your medical needs, your medications, and your history of allergic reactions and medication intolerances.
2.  It is unnecessary and costly duplication of service if you see a walk-in doctor, are unsure about their advice, and then call for an appointment at Dixie Road anyway (this happens all the time!).
3.  The Ministry of Health claws back the value of a walk-in clinic visit from our remuneration for your care and it really isn’t fair that we are penalized financially when you choose to go elsewhere.
4.  We are here to assist you, so please make use of our services.
5.  If you need help urgently after-hours, or if all of our same-day appointments are gone, we strongly encourage you to visit the Urgent Care Centre at Trillium’s Queensway Site at 150 Sherway Drive, open 365 days a year from 3:00pm-9:00 pm.

Thank you for helping us help you!  Our mandate is to provide for your care.

WE ARE HERE TO PROVIDE YOUR CARE, AND THINGS ARE STILL A BIT DIFFERENT DUE TO COVID-19

Our regular hours are Mon-Fri 8:00 am -8:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.  We are here to meet your health care needs.

We offer both In-Person Care for assessment and care that requires a face-to-face visit to the office and Virtual Care (Telephone or Video Conference Appointments) for health needs that can be safely met that way.  If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you can be assigned a phone call appointment to review your symptoms and discuss whether the anti-viral medication paxlovid is advisable for you.  Please call front desk at 905-279-1700 and we will guide you about the appropriate appointment type for your concerns.  Combined care delivery with In-Person and Virtual Care visits is the new normal in Primary Care in Ontario, and throughout Canada.  As of December 2022, the MOH rule is that your physician can offer you virtual care phone or video appointments if they are appropriate, as long as you are seeing your physician in-person at least once every 24 months.

Masks are now optional at the clinic, although we do ask that you mask if you are in with infection symptoms (cough, sore throat, fever, runny nose, etc.).  If you are coming in with illness symptoms that could be COVID-19, we ask that you do a rapid test for COVID-19 at home before you come into the clinic.  If you do not have access to a rapid test at home, we can provide one for you upon your arrival at the clinic.

We unfortunately still continue to have ill symptomatic patients and COVID-19 positive patients attempt to enter the clinic with no mask on.  We need to protect our staff and the patients we are caring for at the clinic.  If you have tested positive for COVID-19 and need medical support and advice, please call the clinic to be assigned a Virtual Care phone call appointment.

Please Do Not Email the Clinic for Urgent Medical Requests

While every effort is being made to respond to patient’s email requests, the volume of emails we receive often means that it takes us 1-4 business days to respond to an email.  As such, please DO NOT email the clinic about urgent requests like acute illness symptoms.  Please reserve emails for routine, non-urgent requests, and try not to email us medical information that is actually the content of an In-Person or Virtual Care visit.  If you require same-day or next-day attention for your symptoms or concerns, please call the office to speak to a medical office assistant or a nurse, and to be assigned an appointment as needed.  Thank you.

Do I Need COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses?  Yes!

At this point in the pandemic, with almost 5 years of medical research information available, booster vaccine doses remain the very best tool in the fight against COVID-19.

Keeping your immunity as strong as possible through ongoing booster vaccine doses is the best way to:

1.  avoid getting the virus in the first place
2.  avoid the possibility of becoming a long-COVID sufferer if you do get the virus
3.  avoid spreading the virus to your loved ones, particularly those who are elderly or medically more vulnerable
4.  keep yourself 90% protected against hospitalization and death 

If you’ve had COVID-19, then your next booster dose is advisable 6-12 months after you tested positive for COVID-19 or 6-12 months after your last booster vaccine dose, depending on how high risk a patient you are for complications from a COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 Symptoms?  

Summary of the Current Public Health Guidance:

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid antigen testing (RAT) or PRC testing from a hospital admission and you are fully vaccinated (2 or 3 doses or more) you should self-isolate for at least 5 days from the date you developed symptoms.  It is advisable to extend your 5 day isolation by a few more days until you no longer have active symptoms if necessary.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 on RAT or PCR testing from a hospital admission and you’re not fully vaccinated or you are immunocompromised, you should self-isolate for at least 10 days from the date you developed symptoms, or from the date of the positive COVID-19 test result if you have no symptoms.

If you have a negative result of a RAT test but you have symptoms that could be COVID-19, you should repeat a second RAT test 24 to 48 hour later if available.  If your second test taken within 48 hours of your first negative result is also negative, this most likely means you do not have COVID-19 and you do not need to self-isolate.  It is however still smart to isolate until your symptoms are better, so that you don’t spread your non-COVID virus to others who will then have to be worried they have COVID!

If you have symptoms that could be COVID-19 and do not have access to a RAT test, assume that you could have COVID-19 and self-isolate for 5 days if you are fully vaccinated (2 or 3 doses) or 10 days if you are not vaccinated or are immunocompromised.  If you are coming to the clinic with symptoms that could be COVID-19 and you have not been able to RAT test at home, we can provide you with a COVID RAT test when you arrive.  If you test positive at the office, we will continue your appointment virtually.  If you need to be examined for symptoms of COVID-19 we can refer you the Mississauga COVID, Cough and Flu Clinic where they can manage community COVID-19 cases with less risk of transmission to others.

Masks Are Still Required at Our Office If You Have Illness Symptoms

Since August 2023, masking for asymptomatic patients is optional at our office.  If you care coming into the clinic with any acute illness symptoms (fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, body aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea) that can easily be spread to others, we ask that you wear a mask as a courtesy to other patients attending the clinic and to our staff.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Verbal Abuse is Not Acceptable

Since the pandemic we have unfortunately experienced a higher-than-ever-before number of situations in which patients are being verbally abusive to our office staff.  This will not be tolerated.  Our primary purpose is to care for our patients and to meet their health care needs.  Call volumes and patient needs are higher than they have ever been before or many different reasons:  patients in Ontario are more vulnerable than ever since the pandemic, patients are catching up on their care needs after pandemic delays, specialist wait times are longer than ever, surgeries wee postponed, and primary care providers are being asked to shoulder more patient care needs at the same time that we also provide vaccinations, mental health care, elder care, and a lot of administrative work to support our patients.   We are doing our best!  We apologize if you have to wait on hold on the phone for longer than usual, but if that results in you getting same-day help for your needs, that’s a good outcome.  Please bring your kindest and most patient communication skills to your interactions with our staff.  We will do the same, and we are confident that everyone’s needs can be properly met.  Thank you very much.

In-Person Care and Virtual Care

The combination of In-Person and Virtual Care continues to the be the new normal in primary care Family Medicine.  If you are seeing your doctor for in-person care at least once every 24 months, you and your doctor can decide together whether a visit should be In-Person Care or Virtual Care.  We are figuring out this new combination of In-Person Care and Virtual Care together, and our doctors continue to follow all of the guidance provided by the CFPC (College of Family Physician of Canada), the OMA (Ontario Medical Association), the CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) and the MOH (Ministry of Health).

Please Help Us Manage Your Prescriptions

Please book your routine follow-up appointments as your physician has recommended and let us know with a few weeks’ notice if you do not have enough medication to last until your next follow-up with your doctor.  Ask your pharmacy to contact us well in advance of your medication running out where appropriate.  We receive hundreds of prescription renewal requests per week, and it may take up to 3-4 business days for your renewal request to be processed.  Thank you.

Physician Team Updates

Dr. Yashna Vaidya will be away on maternity leave from Monday November 4 2024 through to Monday June 30 2025.  We have a very experienced locum physician, Dr. Elena Kolb, joining us to provide locum coverage for Dr. Vaidya’s patients throughout this entire time period.  Dr. Vaidya’s patients will be well cared for by Dr. Kolb and by the rest of the Dixie Road team as usual for urgent same-day and same-week appointment needs.  We wish Dr. Vaidya a happy and healthy maternity leave enjoying her time with her family!