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To apply for Primary Care in BC, please register with the “BC Health Connect Registry“ For general health information please visit Healthlink BC.
To apply for Primary Care in BC, please register with the “BC Health Connect Registry“ For general health information please visit Healthlink BC.
We are offering phone, virtual video, and in-office appointments. *Please see updated “Mask & Sickness Policy” below.
Most prescription renewals, review of test results, consultations and follow ups can be conducted by phone or virtual video. Any in-office visit that is essential will be arranged by MOA when you book your appointment.
If you have an in-person appointment, please keep the following in mind:
This policy outlines how Health Care on Yates protects the privacy of your personal information and medical records. We ensure your information through physical safeguards, computer encryption and advanced information technology systems, as well as staff education and privacy training. All Health Care on Yates team members are required to adhere to the provisions described in this policy. If you have any questions regarding our privacy practices, please contact a Health Care on Yates team member for further assistance.
We collect the following personal information:
When and to whom do we disclose personal information?
Can you withdraw consent?
You can withdraw your consent to have your information shared with other health care providers or other parties at any time, except where the disclosure is authorized by law. However, please discuss this with your health care provider and/or other clinician first.
How do you access the personal information held by this office?
You have the right to access your records in a timely manner. If you request a copy of your record, one will be provided to you within a reasonable timeframe. If you wish to view the original record, one of our staff must be present to maintain the integrity of the record. Patient requests for access to the medical record are to be made in writing. Such requests can be directed to the Clinical Director to ensure a streamlined process.
Limitations on access:
In extremely limited circumstances, you may be denied access to your records, but only if providing access would create a significant risk to you or to another person.
What if you feel your record is not accurate?
We make every effort to ensure that all of your information is recorded accurately. If an inaccuracy is identified, you can request that a note be made to reflect this on your file.
How long do we keep information?
We retain patient records as required by law and professional regulations.
How do we dispose of information when it is no longer required?
When information is no longer required, it is destroyed in a secure manner, according to set procedures that govern the storage and destruction of personal information.
We are committed to providing our patients and their guardians with accessible and quality care that is responsive to their needs. We strive to receive thorough information to ensure the healthcare needs of our patients are met. Some of our patients are children whose parents are separated or divorced. In other circumstances the primary guardian of the child will be a social worker, foster parent, or another family member other than their parent. Our primary concern for these children is to promote their health and well-being.
When a child is accompanied to the appointment by another guardian/adult other than their parent we assume that the adult attending the appointment has ability to provide a detailed history, make medical decisions or at minimum communicate the medical plans to the guardian with full medical decision making authority and will then be able to communicate back to us the next steps to ensure adequate medical care if provided to the child.
When a child has a medical appointment and is accompanied by either parent, we will assume that parent has full legal custody and authority to make medical decisions for the child.
We need to depend on the child’s parents to communicate clearly with each other about the child’s health status and healthcare plans. We expect that collateral information or concerns from the parent unable to attend the appointment will be communicated by way of the parent attending the appointment.
Another means of effective information sharing can be completing pertinent forms by all parents, which have been requested by the physician. These forms will be uploaded to the patient’s chart. Information and directions on how to submit the forms to the clinic will be directed to the primary email contact we have on the patient’s chart.
Our general approach is to communicate our medical assessments and recommendations with the parent who accompanies the child to the medical appointment. We cannot take the responsibility of contacting each parent separately every time we see the child or communicate with either of the parents on separate occasions.
Appointment notifications, form completion request or follow up plans will be completed by secured health email notifications (via “Ocean”) or by telephone. Communication will be directed to the primary email and phone number we have on the patient’s chart. Be sure to be sure to check your junk and/or spam email mailbox for Ocean correspondence.
We expect that if there are any legal changes in guardianship that we will be provided with an update in writing with details around who should be the primary contact adult.
Health Care on Yates is committed to providing a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all our patients and staff.
We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding any form of verbal abuse, displays of aggression, or harassment. This includes yelling, using profanity and/or uttering threats towards our staff. Any form of abuse, including use of inappropriate words, actions or inactions is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Action will be taken, and you will be asked to leave the property and risk losing access to primary care at our clinic.
New applications for care at Health Care on Yates are currently not being accepted, but if you do not have a Primary Care Provider, please register with the “Health Connect Registry“ and scroll to “Island Health” and “Victoria” to find the link to register. British Columbians in participating communities have the opportunity to register for a family doctor or nurse practitioner through the Registry.
The neighbourhoods of our catchment (set by the Ministry of Health) include Victoria, Vic West, James Bay, Oak Bay, Oaklands and Fairfield. (Please see the catchment map on our “Contact Us” page)
If you had already applied, we appreciate your patience as we work through those applications.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse with advanced university education who provides personalized, quality health care to patients and families. NPs can diagnose and treat most conditions experienced across the lifespan, which includes ordering diagnostic tests and making referrals to other health care providers or programs. Grounded in nursing, we work with you not only on treatment but also to prevent illness or chronic diseases. Depending on the health status of the patient, we work independently or in partnership with other health care professionals such as registered nurses, physicians, social workers, midwives, mental health professionals and pharmacists to keep you, your family and your community well.
Please see HealthLink BC’s information on Nurse Practitioners in BC: Click HERE
Team based care means that when you are attached to a clinic, a team of different practitioners will work together and with you to provide the best possible care to meet your needs. At Health Care on Yates, the team consists of nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social worker, mental health worker and medical office assistants. Each of those professionals has unique skills, but some of their skills also overlap. We will make every effort when you have a concern to match you with the best person to help.
No, generally patients will form a relationship with one provider. We know that having a primary care provider who knows you well means that you will have better long term health. But not all providers have the skills or experience to be all things to all people, so they will call upon other members of the team for assistance when needed. Additionally, if your usual provider is busy or away and you have an urgent concern, another team member will step forward to help you.
No, we are not a walk in clinic. If you are a registered patient, please call the clinic in the morning and we will make every effort to schedule you to be seen. Our goal is to see you when you need to be seen.
Generally we do not limit the number of issues per visit and make an effort to provide as much assistance as we can to prevent you from having to return more than necessary. But some people do have complex social and/or medical needs that deserve more time than we can give in one visit. In that case, we will discuss with you which problems you feel are most urgent, and ask you to return for additional visits if needed.
We do offer visits over the phone and on other virtual platforms.
The Ministry of Health has been working hard to establish new or enhanced primary care clinics all over BC. Health Care on Yates is located in an area where there are large numbers of people who do not have a primary care provider, so this clinic was formed to serve that specific area. There should be new services in your area soon that you will be able to access. Please visit the “Health Connect Registry” to see all the available areas in BC where you can apply to become a patient.
We use a scheduling system called Open Access, and it relies on booking patients on the day they need to be seen. Research shows the most efficient way to see patients is through a system that utilizes mostly same day appointments. Every morning most the appointments are open and get filled that morning. See next item for instructions on how to book an appointment.
We have two ways to book appointments at Health Care on Yates. You can book through our online portal (for the same day only) which is accessible from our website, OR you can telephone the clinic directly. We encourage all patients to use our open access (same day) booking system as much as possible. Your reason for the appointment does not need to be urgent to request an appointment for the same day.
Telephone: 250-940-6760. The phone lines open at 8:30am daily. Please call in as soon as possible because same day appointments fill quickly. Our phone system only allows two calls through at once, so if no one picks up, please leave a voicemail. If you leave a voicemail, please state your name, the reason for the appointment and the best way to contact you.
We process patient requests from voicemails at the same time as patients who speak to an MOA.
If you need an appointment in the future, you must call the clinic to speak to an MOA. Because we book more same day appointments, pre-booked appointments may not be available for several weeks.
No, we try and see you as soon as you request an appointment, regardless of your need. But we are trying to fit in as many patients as we can in a day, so sometimes we do ask patients with non-urgent requests to call back another day.
We hear you and understand. It is frustrating on our end too! We easily get several hundred calls from people asking for same day appointments, in addition to all the calls for other issues. The spaces fill quickly, and we are doing our best to fit in as many people as we can each day. Our providers have open schedules each morning so most days we also have a lot of spaces to fill. It is rare that we do not fill all appointments each day. We appreciate your patience and willingness to keep trying.
Note: Occasionally messages are left and we are unable to hear what the person is said due to poor cell reception. If the caller ID displays a number with the call, we try and match it to a chart and call that person anyway. But often we can’t figure out who called, so that person does not get a call back. If you think you should have been called back and have not been, we urge you to call again.
No, the pediatric physicians book all their appointments ahead of time and they only take patients by referral. If you need to book or change an appointment with one of the pediatricians, please call the office and speak to reception.
Yes, you can book in the future, but we only have limited spots so the next available appointment might be quite far away. You will need to call the front desk to arrange it. Remember though that we are open 6 days a week and four evenings until 8 pm, so there is quite a bit of flexibility in the open access slots. We encourage you to use the open access slots as much as possible because we try and save pre-book slots for people who need longer or unusual appointments.
Some patients tell us they work nights or have other factors that keep them from calling in the morning. We know this can be a barrier, so we recommended you have a family member or friend call on your behalf. We have tried several booking systems and have not found one that works for all patients all the time.
Both research and our experience show that people who book the day before often no show. Sometimes they get better overnight and decide going to work or school is more important than keeping an appointment. And occasionally the person gets worse and goes to the emergency room instead. It is frustrating to turn people away in the morning only to have other patients no show, so we stick closely to this rule.
Communication with our patients is done through a secure portal called “Ocean”. The email you receive from us will show as being from “Health Care on Yates <no-reply@cognisantmd.com”. This is safe to open, and will require some personal information in order to see the content of the message.