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NEW! (Update: November 9, 2022)
Walk in Clinic Operational Changes
Monday to Friday – Effective immediately, we are offering in-person appointments only. However, if you have tested positive for COVID, can’t get an appointment with your family doctor at the Clinic, please let our booking staff know and a phone appointment will be offered in the Walk-in Clinic. Do not come into the Clinic with a confirmed case of COVID-19 – please continue to self-isolate at home.
Weekends (Saturday, Sunday, statutory holidays) – Effective November 19, 2022, we will be offering in-person appointments only. However, if you have tested positive for COVID, can’t get an appointment with your family doctor at the Clinic, please let our booking staff know and a phone appointment will be offered in the Walk-in Clinic. Do not come into the Clinic with a confirmed case of COVID-19 – please continue to self-isolate at home.
Notice to all Patients – Our Walk-in Clinic will be resuming operation as a ‘Walk-in’ in the next few weeks. We will continue to offer services on a first come first serve basis where wait times will vary based on patient demand and physician capacity. However, Patients will need to come to the Clinic to be added to our daily list. If you have a family doctor at the Albany, you can continue to book to the daily list using online appointment booking. Date of implementation is projected to be November 21, 2022 at the latest.
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NEW! (Update: September 29, 2022)
Masking Continues to be Required at the Albany Medical Clinic
We have continued to increase the number of in-person visits to our Clinic. Don’t forget – We look after a large number of high risk patients (seniors, people with chronic illnesses and many who have compromised immune systems, as well as children under 5 who cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19). At the Albany Medical Clinic, the health & safety of our patients and staff is our top priority. We will continue to require masking for all patients to reduce the risk of transmission and protect our most vulnerable patients.
If you arrive at the Clinic and have COVID-19 or respiratory symptoms, you will be asked to wear a mask if you aren’t already wearing one. Please wear the mask if asked.
We thank you as always for entrusting your care to us, and for your co-operation with masking rules.
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Walk-in Clinic – How are we operating right now! (Update: September 29, 2022)
Our Walk-in Clinic operates on a first come first serve basis. This is how we operated before the pandemic and this is how we are continuing to work. At this stage of the pandemic, we are continuing to assess our operations and adjust to what’s happening in the community.
We have now shifted back to seeing all walk-in visits in person with a very limited number of telephone visits.
You have three options on how you can get on our daily schedule.
- Book online (only available to patients who have a family doctor at the Albany)
- Call our Booking Center to book an approximate time.
- Walk-in and register. You will be given an approximate time when you will be seen.
You do not have to wait in our waiting room – in fact, we encourage you to leave and come back closer to the approximate time that our staff gave you.
Our Walk-in Reception staff will be continuing to ask you Covid-19 screening, and if you are not wearing a mask, you will be asked to put a mask on for while you are in our waiting room and while seeing one of our physicians. These steps are important to keep you, other patients in the waiting area, our staff and physicians safe.
Q&A
Why are you still doing Covid-19 screening and asking me to wear a mask?
We see a lot of patients who are feeling unwell when they come to our Walk-in Clinic. The screening and masking helps to make our Clinic wait space SAFE for you, other patients in the area who may be immunocompromised. Please respect that we take these precautions and work with our Reception to get screened and masked.
Why do I get an appointment time and then still have to wait?
We operate our Walk-in Clinic on a first come first serve basis. When you call, book online or just walk into our Clinic, you may see an appointment time (it’s how our medical records system sets up our schedule) but please know that any ‘time’ you may be given is only an approximate time. As you can appreciate, some patient issues can be dealt with by our physicians quickly and others require our physicians to take more time. So…if you are waiting, please be patient and respectful to our Walk-in Clinic Reception staff.
What if I don’t want to wait?
If you are on list for the day and do not wish to wait, please notify Walk-in Reception staff so we can remove you from our list and book another patient.
Our staff and physicians are doing their best to keep on time and we truly appreciate all patients who are polite, respectful and courteous! Your continuing positive comments keep us going during very demanding and stressful times in healthcare! Thank you!
Please know that if you are rude, disrespectful or are bullying our staff and physicians – we will ask you to leave and find an alternate healthcare option. This applies to both Albany and non Albany patients. If you have a family doctor at the Albany and your behaviour to staff and physicians is inappropriate, this will be shared with your family doctor.
If you are calling to book an appointment 416-461-9471, you can choose to stay on the line and wait for a booking agent to speak to OR you can choose a ‘callback’ feature that maintains your place in the queue (but you can hang up and we will call you back!)
NOTE: Please be advised Opioids/Narcotics will not be prescribed or renewed in the Walk-In Clinic. Please see your family physician for controlled substance prescriptions.
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DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING OPEN ON SATURDAYS!
Our Diagnostic Imaging services are open on Saturdays.
For your convenience, we are also doing Mammograms, Echo’s and Ultrasounds on a booked appointment basis on Saturdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm.
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Doctor Family Doctor Appointments (Update Sept 29, 2022)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Albany Medical Clinic has not closed its doors to patients. Our doctors continue to see patients.
Our family doctors have been increasing the number of in-person visits being booked! Telephone visits will continue but on a limited basis. In-person visits are being focused on catching up with preventive care screening and these in-person visits will be prioritized.
Online booking is available for Albany patients. Check if family doctor is offering online booking for in-person visits by clicking on either the top of this page, clicking the ‘Book a family doctor appointment’ to the right or clicking here BOOK ONLINE . If you wish to book an in-person visit with your family doctor, call 416-461-9471. Booking agent staff will be able to advise you of available appointments.
Did you know that instead of waiting on hold, you can choose to get a call back from the Clinic? With this feature, you do not lose your place in the queue – our system will dial you when you are at the top of the queue ready to have your call answered! We hope you will find this new feature helpful – we know that it has been difficult to get through to the Clinic and have your call answered. We continue to try and improve our ability to get your call answered!
Coming in for an in-person visit?
Please make sure that you do not have any COVID-19 symptoms and take a moment to read the screening signs before you enter the elevator. For physician appointments, you will already have had COVID-19 screening on the phone or by email when your appointment was being confirmed but if you are feeling unwell on the day of your in-person visit – don’t come in; call to switch your appointment to a telephone visit. Please be patient as we carefully re-open and increase our in-person visits!
We continue to limit our elevators to 4 patients at any time.
We continue to limit the number of patients in the building at any time by continuing to limit the number of chairs in our waiting rooms.
DO NOT bring food or drink into the Clinic for your visit.
Finally, as a Clinic, we strongly recommend and encourage that all eligible patients get the COVID-19 vaccine. Continued re-opening and returning to a more normal operation depends on vaccination and continued compliance with public health initiatives. Stay safe and please get vaccinated!
Having a phone visit with your family doctor?
If you need to send a medical photo to your doctor, click here for guidelines on how to take a quality photo.
When you have your photos ready to send, click ‘SUBMIT DOCUMENTS’ in the top right of this page.
NOTE: Doctor telephone calls to you may show on your phone as ‘Blocked Caller’ or ‘No Caller Id’. Please ensure your device is set to allow calls of this nature and that you still pick up.
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Patient Appointment Reminders by Email!
We are sending out email appointment reminders to patients with booked appointments with our Nursing Station, Family Doctor and Specialist appointments. Follow the instructions to confirm your appointment and don’t forget to complete the Covid-19 screening questionnaire! Want an email appointment reminder? Make sure we have your email address!
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Our NURSING STATION will be open Monday to Friday and will only be accepting booked appointments; no drop-in appointments until further notice. (Ear Syringing, Injections, etc.) Please call our Call Centre at 416-461-9471 to book your Nursing Station appointment.
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Online Booking Tips:
– Have your Health Card number ready.
– If we have your email address, an email confirmation will be sent automatically after booking your appointment if you click on ‘Email confirmation’. (You can then cancel your appointment online if you needed to!)
– Online bookings can be cancelled online with a minimum of 24 hours advance notice*
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