Hours of Operation

Monday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday Closed
Sunday Closed
Statutory Holidays Closed
  • Call and cancel your appointment as soon as you know you can’t make it – we need at least 48 hours to re-book another patient into your cancelled appointment slot!
  • Please arrive and check in 15 minutes before your actual appointment time – especially if you need to get your blood pressure checked! You can skip the Reception line and use a kiosk to check in as well!  Coming soon….kiosks on the 3rd floor!
  • Bring your health card to every visit to the Clinic! Your health card must be swiped.  Our Receptionists will ask you to confirm your personal information at every visit so we make sure to capture any changes to where you live, your phone number or your email address.
  • Help us to keep our records up to date by informing us of any changes. This will assist us in processing our records efficiently.
  • Before you leave, ask the doctor when they need to see you next. If you have a chronic disease like Diabetes, book your next appointment in three to four months before you leave the Clinic. If your doctor wants you to book a follow-up appointment, book that appointment before you leave the Clinic.
  • Wear clean clothing that allows your doctor to examine the area, or be prepared to change into a gown so that an examination can be completed.  For example, if you have concerns about knee pain, it is helpful to wear sweatpants that can go up above your knee.  It is helpful to remove your shoes and socks for foot examinations.  Preparing in advance in this way allows the physician to maximize the time that they have to properly assess you.

Prior to your first visit to the Clinic, our Booking staff will ask you for your email and phone numbers and will send you an Email Voicemail and Virtual Care Consent Form through our secure encrypted email message system called Ocean.  Please complete this in advance of your first visit.

Your new family doctor will also be sending you an email through Ocean that contains their Office Polices in a Welcome letter. You may also be asked to complete a Medical History Questionnaire in advance of your first visit.

  • Form to Complete – Email Voicemail Virtual Care Consent
  • Form to Complete – Medical History Questionnaire
  • Read and acknowledge – Physician Office Policies
  • Please plan to arrive 15 mins before your scheduled appointment time to complete any remaining paperwork.
  • Please bring a list of medications you are currently taking and a valid OHIP card.
  • In addition, it is helpful to write down a list of questions for the provider to ensure all questions and concerns are addressed during the appointment.

It is important to have a regular family health care provider who helps make sure you receive the medical care that is best for your individual needs. But healthy people often don’t necessarily need “annual physicals”, and those check-ups can do more harm than good. Here’s why: https://choosingwiselycanada.org/health-check-ups/

Family medicine guidelines now suggest a “periodic health review” instead of an annual physical. The purpose of this appointment (which could be by phone or in-person) is to:

  • Review and update your medical record
  • Identify and/or improve any risk factors for disease
  • Make sure your vaccinations are up to date
  • Perform or arrange for important screening tests 

Depending on your age and health, your doctor may recommend these periodic reviews annually, or just every few years – ask your doctor what is best for you!

You should see your healthcare provider in follow-up visits for all healthcare issues. Do not wait for your periodic health visit to see your doctor with a laundry list of problems. Your doctor expects you to make an appointment and see them regularly to deal with your problems one at a time in a timely fashion.

There are two ways you can get this done:

  • Book an appointment with your family doctor and specify that it is for a form to be completed. When you meet with your family doctor, bring the form with you.  Your family doctor will review the form questions and advise you how much it will cost for them to complete the form.  You will not receive the completed form if you have not completed making payment to the Clinic.

or

  • You can send us a message and attach the form to the message. Your family doctor’s Receptionist will see your message and if your family doctor wants a visit booked in order to complete the form, your family doctor’s Receptionist will arrange that with you.  Otherwise, your doctor will review the submitted form and let you know if there is a charge to complete it and what the charge is.  You will need to make payment prior to receiving the completed report.

Important:  OHIP does not cover the time that your doctor needs to complete your form (with limited exceptions).  We have a list of the standard forms and their cost which you can access by clicking here: [PDF:  Uninsured Services List].  Depending on the type and complexity of the form (and how many other forms your doctor needs to complete), it may take up to 30 days for your form to be completed.

Telehealth Ontario is a free, confidential telephone service you can call to get health advice or general health information from a Registered Nurse, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. This means quick, easy access to a qualified health professional, who can assess your symptoms and help you decide your best first step. Please note that Telehealth Ontario should not replace an urgent situation and all such calls should be made to 911.

Telehealth Ontario: 1-866-797-000

Your doctor does not report the information after each vaccine.

Avoid school suspension by Reporting Your School-Age Child’s Vaccines to Toronto Public Health.

You can update your child’s immunization record:

Generally – No.

Our doctors are generally fully booked with appointments during office hours and are unable to take patient phone calls. If you, however, do need to speak to your doctor, ask our Booking Staff or Receptionist to send a message to your doctor with your request.  Otherwise, please book an appointment.

A Physician Assistant (PA) is an advanced practice health care provider. Physician Assistants can perform histories, physicals, order and interpret investigations, diagnose, and formulate treatment plans. Physician Assistants have a unique, holistic approach to care that addresses the physical, emotional, mental and social aspect of your health. Physician Assistants are also well qualified to do your physicals, well women, well men and well-baby visits. Physician Assistants educate and counsel patients preventative health. They work under the supervision of a physician, based on medical directives. Physician Assistants can prescribe most medications except narcotics and controlled substances.

Physician Assistants also provide care to patients of all ages with a focus on preventing disease, promoting good health and curing illness. Physician Assistants work as part of your health care team by providing education, care and support to all patients. Physician Assistants offer a variety of health care services including the ability to:

  • diagnose and treat illness and/or injuries
  • perform physical check-ups
  • order and interpret diagnostic tests
  • complete/refill prescriptions
  • provide counselling and education
  • provide supportive care through illness
  • provide treatments and/or procedures
  • make referrals to family physicians, specialists and other health professionals

While we appreciate that some patients may wish to stay with their Albany Medical Clinic family doctor, it is important that everyone find access to a local family doctor who is close enough to address health concerns in a timely manner. 

Having a physician in your local area will:

  • improve your access to healthcare
  • ensure that you have a family doctor that has knowledge of and understands your area’s medical system and resources

There are many situations in which seeing your doctor in-person is necessary to ensure the appropriate medical care is provided. Patients may also require referrals to specialists or other healthcare services. Most physicians are only familiar with the practices, wait times, and nuances of the services located in the community in which they practice.  Please feel free to discuss your options with your provider at your next visit. 

For patients who have relocated outside of Ontario, please note that physicians in Canada are licensed by their provincial colleges. Our physicians are licensed to practice in Ontario only and are only able to provide medical care (even by phone or video) to patients who are physically located in Ontario.  If you have moved out of Ontario, please message us.

If you have given us your email, you will automatically receive a reminder email regarding your upcoming in-person appointment two days prior to your Clinic visit.  Don’t forget to complete the respiratory screening questionnaire that’s attached to your in-person appointment confirmation email.  Depending on your family doctor policy, if you are testing positive for COVID-19, a phone appointment may be available to you or you may still be asked to come into the Clinic for the visit.

If we do not have your email, our office staff will only be calling you to confirm your in-person visit (and to do your respiratory screening) for certain appointments – Paps, Periodic Health Visit (CPX), Diabetic Visit, Well Baby or Forms.  Please note that our office staff do not call to remind you for phone appointments.

Due to the high volume of lab results, our doctors do not contact patients when lab results are normal or that do not need any further action.  Lab results are usually back within 48 hours but may take longer depending on the nature of the test. If you are concerned about a result, you can log into the website of the lab that you did the bloodwork at – eg Lifelabs, Dynacare or Alpha labs.  You can also call the Clinic to find out if we have received the result.  Staff can only advise you that we have received the result. 

You may see the result posted on the website of your lab but please give our doctors up to 48 hours to review all incoming messages and to take action on those results that require it.  If you see ‘abnormal’ on a lab result, please be aware that your doctor will review the result against the symptoms you reported and review your medical history to gauge whether further action is required.

If you have a family doctor at the Albany, your best healthcare is received from your own family doctor who knows all your medical history.  If your own family doctor isn’t available when you need them, our Walk-in Clinic at the Albany – open 7 days a week – is staffed with only Albany family doctors – and they are able to see your medical history – and able to give you care that considers your medical history. 

When you get medical care elsewhere, those doctors do not have access to your medical records.  Nor do we get a copy of the visit note from the doctor that you saw elsewhere.  This means that your medical record isn’t capturing any medications or treatments you received.  And, the cost of the medical care you received elsewhere is recovered from your family doctor. 

If you seek medical care elsewhere, your family doctor only sees the date you received care outside recorded in your medical history – so don’t be surprised if on your next visit to the Albany, that your family doctor asks you about it – what was the issue, what treatment you received, where did you receive treatment and if you asked for a copy of the visit note! 

It’s ok to be going to the emergency department of the nearest hospital if you are having a medical emergency – your doctor will get a copy of what happened during your hospital visit in this case, unlike when you go to a non Albany walk-in clinic.

If you don’t live close enough to the Albany to come to our Walk-in Clinic and regularly see walk-in clinics closer to where you live, you should consider getting a family doctor closer to where you live.   If you want to continue to have a family doctor at the Albany, you will need to visit your family doctor in person at least once a year. 

Your doctor is not going to terminate you from their practice for seeing other family doctors but please expect that your doctor will have a conversation with you about the impact of not seeing an Albany doctor. 

Your relationship with our Albany family doctors is based on mutual trust and respect.  If you behave inappropriately with staff or with our physicians, you will be advised that your behaviour is not ok.  Remember that we have a zero tolerance policy as follows:

We do NOT tolerate abusive language or behaviour to our Reception staff, Physicians or other patients in our waiting area.  You will be asked to find another family doctor and clinic if you cannot treat Reception staff and our Physicians with respect.

If your abusive behaviour continues, your family doctor may terminate you as a patient and further, ban you from attending any services at the Albany Medical Clinic.

Your family doctor’s Receptionist’s main role is to support the patients who arrive for their in person visit with your family doctor.  Our Booking Center’s main role is to book appointments into all the physician schedules across the Clinic.  If you called your doctor’s Receptionist directly, you will still enter a queue where you have to wait until the Receptionist has completed any tasks for the patients who are here for in-person visits. 

If you are calling to book an appointment, please try our online appointment booking feature from our website (and avoid having to call us!)

If you have a question or form to give to your physician, you can send a message or submit a document from our website (and avoid having to call us!).

If you call our Booking Center (or Reception) and don’t want to wait in the queue, you can select the ‘callback’ feature and hang up.  This keeps your place in the queue – and when you reach the top of the queue, you will get a call and be connected to a live person. 

Before your family doctor starts to work on any form, you will be advised how much it will cost. You will be asked to make payment for the completion of the form before you leave.  Your family doctor’s Receptionist will take payment.

When a doctor receives a request to complete a form, while the doctor has up to 30 days to complete and return the form to you, our doctors strive to complete forms as soon as possible.  Your doctor should give you a time estimate when they tell you the cost of the form.

While the Albany Medical Clinic has posted rates for non OHIP insured services like form completion, every physician at the Albany has discretion on whether to charge a patient, and how much to charge a patient.  Our doctors do take into account the financial situation of specific patients in determining what to charge.

Billing for late appointments is at the discretion of each physician at the Albany Medical Clinic. 

If you did not give us 48 hours (2 business days) notice to cancel an appointment, billing for cancelled appointments is at the discretion of each physician at the Albany Medical Clinic.  We require 48 hours notice (2 business days) for all family doctor appointment cancellations.

If you forgot to cancel a booked appointment, we consider that you were a ‘no-show’.  This means that we did not receive 48 hours notice and we were not able to re-book another patient into the time slot for the doctor.  Your family doctor’s policy is to send out a bill to make sure that you understand the impact of not giving us adequate notification. 

Our process to send you a copy of your medical records requires your family doctor to review the extracted requested documents prior to their release.  Your doctor will review the documents to ensure that all appropriate documents are released.  While it might add a few days to the release of your documents, it is an important step to be completed.

To extract a copy of your medical records, a staff person must review your request.  Medical records requests are a non-OHIP insured service.

If you have an ongoing prescription, your family doctor will usually allow for 6 – 12 repeats.  Your family doctor only prescribes for a limited amount of refills because they need to see you in person and check up on the state of your current health before renewing for any length of time.  This is a normal practice in all family doctor practices.

Please note that if you run out of your medication, your local pharmacist will bridge you until you can arrange your next in-person visit with your doctor.