A few things worth knowing about how we work — the same information that plays on the screen in our waiting room.
Reaching us
By phone, during office hours. You’ll hold briefly in a queue and reach a real person — we no longer use voicemail. If you hang up before we answer, don’t worry: we see every missed call and will call you back the same business day.
After hours. Your call is answered by Shirley, our automated assistant. Shirley is a computer program run by the clinic — she’ll take your message, and our staff act on it the next working morning. For anything urgent overnight, call 811 (Health Connect Ontario); for emergencies, 911 or your nearest emergency department.
By email. You can email the clinic for prescription renewals, appointment requests, and non-urgent questions. We check email every hour we’re open and handle it the same working day. Please remember ordinary email is not a fully secure channel — keep sensitive details for the phone or your visit. Never use email for anything urgent.
Through our website. New-patient applications, travel consultations, and triage requests can be submitted online — our staff will phone you back.
Your appointments
- Book by phone, email, or at the desk.
- If you can’t make it, tell us at least 24 hours ahead so another patient can have the spot.
At every visit
- Bring your health card, every time. Version codes expire; an out-of-date card delays the paperwork behind your visit.
- Bring ALL your medications — the actual bottles. We’ll make sure every renewal you need is written at the visit, where it’s free.
- We’ll confirm your phone, address, and email and take your blood pressure and weight. We use every visit fully — including offering preventive care you’re due for, not just the thing you came about.
- Give us your email address if you haven’t — we send lab requisitions by email.
- Not sure what screening you’re due for? Our tool at prevention.ajaxharwoodclinic.com lists what is currently offered in Ontario for your age, sex and conditions — print it and bring it to your appointment.
- If you monitor at home, bring your blood pressure or glucose log.
Your test results — your part
After any test or referral, book an appointment to go over the results. Booking that follow-up is your responsibility — always. Book it before you leave. Please do not assume that no news is good news: results are reviewed, but the appointment is where they’re explained and acted on.
Fees for services OHIP does not insure
OHIP insures the medical care you receive here. A few services are not insured, and are billed to the patient. You will always be told the cost before any work is done. Fees fall into three groups:
- Set by our clinic policy (subject to change): missed appointments and late cancellations — these vary with the appointment booked, since a missed counselling or long appointment costs more than a missed routine visit — repeat referrals after a missed specialist appointment, more than one referral for the same problem, replacing lost prescriptions or lab requisitions, and medication renewals by fax or phone. Renewals at your appointment are free.
- Set by the Ontario Medical Association: notes and forms for employers, schools and insurers, and copies or transfer of your medical records.
- Charged by time: discussion of non-medical matters, and care for patients not covered by OHIP.
Current amounts are on our Uninsured Services & Fees page, which is always the live schedule — we keep prices in one place so nothing quoted elsewhere goes stale.
Becoming an enrolled patient
If you consider us your family clinic, ask about enrolment — one signature, no cost. Enrolment formally attaches you to your doctor, which strengthens continuity and funds the clinic to look after you year-round, not just when you’re ill. We are actively inviting long-time patients who were never formally enrolled — you’re free to decline, and free to leave enrolment at any time.
Enrolled patients: please call us first before visiting a walk-in clinic. We can usually see you, and your record stays in one place — fragmented records are how things get missed.
Calls and messages from us
We sometimes reach out first: appointment reminders, screening that’s due, or a check-in if we’re still receiving your results but haven’t seen you in a long while. These calls are genuine. We’ll confirm who you are by name and date of birth — we will never ask for banking information, and never ask you to read your health-card number to us out of the blue. If we ask “are we still your family doctor?” then “I have a new doctor now” is a perfectly good answer — we’ll update our records and wish you well. You can opt out of reminder messages at any time, and it will stick.
Group programs
We run group medical sessions (ask staff what’s currently offered). If you’re attending a group session and also have a medical concern that day, tell us — it can often be looked after in the same visit.
Your privacy
Your health information is protected under Ontario’s PHIPA. The automated tools we use — including Shirley and our transcription and mail-sorting systems — run on clinic premises: your information does not leave our control. Questions or concerns about your records: ask to speak with our privacy contact.
Respect
We’re committed to treating every patient with courtesy and respect, and we ask the same toward our staff.