APPOINTMENT RELATED INFORMATION

 West Saanich Medical Clinic open it's doors on April 1, 2021 in the space where a former walk-in clinic used to be.   We are a new clinic with new staff and Physicians.  Whether you were seen at the previous clinic or are new to us, if you have not completed a new patient intake form for West Saanich Medical Clinic, we may not have your information on file and require these forms before we can book an appointment for you.  Once we have your information in our system, you can book future appointments with us by sending us an email to wsclinicreception@gmail.com

We take many precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as  physical distancing, limiting the number of patients we have in the clinic, the use of face masks or protective coverings to minimise the risk of transmissions, hand sanitization and room sanitization just to name a few.

All patients are required to wear a mask and sanitize their hands upon entering the clinic.

We would ask only the patient arrive for the appointment unless accompanying a child or someone with disabilities.

 People who are immunocompromised may not garner a full immune response to the vaccine therefore, patients who are not vaccinated from COVID-19 who need an in-person visit, will be seen after the clinics normal operating hours depending on Physician availability as we often have immunocompromised patients in the clinic.  

To help us serve you better, we would appreciate it if you would:

• Keep us informed of any address or phone number changes.
• If you have an email address, please let us know.
• Notify us if your visit is related to an ICBC or Workers Compensation claim.
• Notify us if you are in to review recent test results. This will allow our staff to ensure that we have the latest results on file for your doctor.
• Notify the doctor if you would like a copy of your visit notes to be forwarded to your family doctor.
• Have your date of birth and your schedule (preferred appointment times) available before calling. Our telephone lines are extremely busy, so the quicker we are able to assist you, the quicker we are able to assist the other callers that may be waiting in the queue.

Please respect the other patients in our waiting room by not shouting, swearing or using verbal abuse towards our staff or patients.

If at any time a patient is being disrepectful to our staff or patients their appointment will be cancelled and they will be asked to leave the clinic with the ability to book future appointements with the clinic to be assessed by our healthcare team.

A completed new patient intake form.  Photo ID.  A valid BC Care Card.  A list of all current prescribed medications.  A digital QR code proof of full Covid-19 vaccination. 

When we have immunocompromised patients in the waiting room, we will arrange for un-vaccinated patients to have an intial telephone appointment with the Physician who will make arrangements to see you in -person after normal business hours if your medical condition cannot be treated over the phone.   

You must book an appointment with a doctor to request a prescription or prescription refill.  Our doctors do not accept faxed requests from Pharmacists to renew prescriptions.  Any faxed requests are returned to the Pharmacist  

Our staff are unable to provide you with your results, this service is provided by your physician by appointment only and we do not contact patients when their results arrive at the clinic unless requested by the Physician. 

To review your results, you will need to book a follow up appointment with your Physician approximately 2-5 days after you have your test.  If your test has not been ordered by one of our Physicians, we will not have a copy of that result and suggest that you contact the Physician who ordered the test for a follow-up appointment.  If your test was performed while you were in an emergency department or admitted to a hospital and are a patient at our clinic, please ensure that the Hospital knows to send us a copy.

Most laboratories will give you access to your results through an online portal. 

Please enquire with the lab as to how you can register for online access.   

The majority of laboratory requisitions are sent via fax.  Life Labs requisitions are faxed to a Life Labs Central Intake Center who may take up to 10 business days to enter your requisition into their system.  You will not be able to have your lab test performed until that information is entered.  If you would rather pick up your requisition in person, please advise the Physician of this at the time of your appointment and you can come into the clinic between the hours of 11-3 Monday to Friday to pick these up.

Island Health requisitions are not faxed and you will need to pick those up in person.  Island Health has laboratories in each hospital as well as some satellite clinics and those locations are listed on Island Health's website.  

All Xray, CT, MRI's and Ultra Sound requisitions are faxed to either West Coast Imaging or an Island Health Central Intake fax number where the urgency of the test is determined by the Radiologist and/or availability.  Once the Radiologist has reveiwed the medical reason for the test, they will send the requisition to their booking department staff who will contact you directly to book the appointment.  Appointments for CT Scans and MRI's may take up to 3-6 months.

 It is important for you to ask your Physician if you need to prepare for any of your tests including fasting as well as which facility your requisition is being faxed to so you may follow up with that facility if you have not been contacted for an appointment in a reasonable amount of time.  Our staff just simply do not have the time to review your lab requisitions and provide you with preparation instructions.  This is something you should talk with your Physician about.

Please note that each facility may have an extensive back log of requisitions and it may take months for you to have your test done.  Please contact the facility directly to enquire about wait times.  Our clinic does not have access to that information. 

When your Physician refers you to a specialist, we recommend that you ask for the name of the specialist, their phone number and what the approximate wait time to see that specialist could be.  This information is important for you to know as you will need it to contact the specialist.

Once the referral is sent from our clinic, it may take 2 to 5 weeks for the specialist to to send us a letter confirming that they have received the referral. sometimes notifying you with the date of your appointment and sometimes with an approximated wait time.   Some specialists are booking up to 2 years in advance. 

If you have not heard from the specialist after 5 weeks of the referral being sent, please contact the specialists office directly to enquire about their wait times.  

Most of these examinations can be performed within two days.  Please call or show up in-person to request an appointment for these.

If you have a form that needs to be completed by a Physician, our Practice Manager will need to review it with you prior to you booking an appointment with the Physician.  We process many types of Insurance, disability, extended coverage, time loss, lawyers requests and re-imbursement forms and need to ensure that we have the information needed to complete the form as well as to give you an estimated cost for the completion of your form.