FACE MASKS STILL REQUIRED
Ontario's mandatory mask mandate ending on March, 21, 2022, which applies to some social settings, does not apply to primary-care health settings. The Queen's Family Health Team still requires anyone who enters our buildings (115 Clarence St. and 220 Bagot St.) to wear a face mask. Unless you are asked to remove your mask for purposes of your medical appointment, you will be required to keep your mask on for the duration of your visit with us. Patients who do not wear a mask will be required to have virtual appointments. This continued mask mandate follows an Ontario Ministry of Health directive for primary-care health settings.
BIVALENT DOSES NOW AVAILABLE
Please visit the KFL&A Public Health website or call 613-549-1232 to book your shot.
Visit the KFL&A Public Health website for the most current information about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination in the Kingston area.
COVID-19 VACCINE FOR CHILDREN
Visit the KFL&A Public Health website to book your child's appointment at a local COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
Click here to read facts about the COVID-19 vaccine and children.
COVID-19 VACCINE FACT SHEETS
Click here to read about mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) and here for viral-vector vaccines (AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD and Johnson and Johnson). Click here to read a Ministry of Health fact sheet on this topic.
QFHT AFTER HOURS CARE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen's Family Health Team will not be providing any walk-in appointments in the after-hours clinic. PLEASE DO NOT visit our after-hours clinic in person unless our on-call team has directed you to do so.
Patients who require urgent after-hours care MUST call 613-533-6563 during after hours clinic hours ONLY and leave a message requesting an appointment. The hours are:
Monday-Thursday: 4:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and 12:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Sunday: 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
We are only checking messages on this phone line during after-hours clinic hours. If you leave a message outside of these hours, these messages will not be heard or reviewed.
After receiving your message during regular after-hours clinic hours, our nursing staff will call you back for further assessment at their first opportunity. (Please be patient with us. Your return call might not be right away, but we WILL get back to you first chance we get!) Based on the nurses' assessment, you will either be given a telephone (or video) appointment or you will be directed to visit the clinic in person (location: 115 Clarence St.). You may be directed back to your usual physician team if the issue is not best managed in the after hours clinic.
If you are calling outside after hours clinic hours, The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Telephone Health Advisory Service is available at 1-866-797-0000 Monday to Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. and around the clock weekends from 5 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Monday.
BEFORE YOU CONTACT THE AFTER HOURS CLINIC
▪ Are you a patient of the Queen’s Family Health Team? The after-hours clinic provides care to patients of the Queen’s Family Health Team only.
▪ Have you spoken to your home team’s receptionist or nurse? There are times when your daytime physician team clinic can fit you into their clinic.
▪ Have you called the Telephone Health Advisory Service? This service puts you in touch with a registered nurse who can provide after-hours telephone health advice for patients who are enrolled with a family health team. They can be reached at 1-866-553-7205.
▪ Narcotics and controlled prescriptions will not be refilled at the after hours clinic.
▪ If you are in crisis and need immediate mental health care, please go to the nearest emergency department or call the crisis line at 613-544-4229.
WHO SHOULD USE THE CLINIC?
If you have new, worrisome symptoms, a sick child, or worsening of a chronic medical condition that you feel cannot wait until a routine appointment with your family physician, you will be assessed. However, your visit in the after hours clinic is not meant to replace the complex and continuing care that your family doctor and home team can provide. Remember, the after hours clinic is meant to provide care to patients of the Queen’s Family Health Team for urgent, non-life-threatening problems only.
THE CLINIC CANNOT HANDLE LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES
If you have chest pain; you think you are having a stroke; or you have heavy bleeding, fractures, severe allergic reactions or trouble breathing, call 911 immediately or go directly to the nearest emergency department.
GENERALLY, YOU WILL NOT BE SEEN FOR THE FOLLOWING:
▪ regular prescription renewals
▪ problems that are best suited for your home team to manage
▪ results of lab tests or procedures
▪ forms to be completed, work notes for absences due to illness (if exception is made, there may be a charge)
▪ requests for referrals, procedures or for appointments with your own doctor.
IF YOU VIST OUR CLINIC
In accordance with a Section 22 order from KFL&A Public Health, all patients who visit our clinic are required to wear a face covering. If you do not have one when you arrive, we will provide you one, and ask that you bring one to your next visit. Read FAQ about face coverings on the KFL&A website here.
PLEASE NOTE
* We do not provide back-to-work or school notes for patients who have persistent symptoms related to such things as allergies or asthma.
COPING WITH COVID-19 RESOURCES
Click here for valuable resources on topics including caregiving, entertainment and education, mental health, and work.
For up-to-date information regarding COVID-19, including how to protect yourself, what to do if you’re sick after you travel, and how to recognize possible symptoms, please visit:
Ontario Ministry of Health (including Self-Assessment Tool)