Office hours

Our office is open from

 

• 8.30am – 4.30pm Monday through Friday

• Closed for lunch from 12pm – 1.15pm daily

• Our phone hours are 9am-12pm and 1.30pm – 4.00pm

• You can book 24/7 at www.seawatchmedical.ca

 

Your physician’s hours will vary on a week-to-week basis as we provide comprehensive family medicine which involves hospital care, outreach care, and home visits where appropriate.

 

Visit types

We offer both in-clinic and phone appointments. Please ensure your phone allows for calls from blocked/private numbers. Our no-show policy applies to phone visits. Please be ready in a quiet area with good reception 5 minutes prior to your appointment time.

 

We no longer operate a waiting room. If an exam room isn’t immediately available, you may be asked to wait in your vehicle with a pager.

 

Code of conduct

We aim to offer a respectful environment free of discrimination. We ask that you please be respectful of others' privacy and space during your wait and appointment.

 

A chaperone may be required for exams of specific areas.

 

There is a ZERO tolerance policy at the clinic for:

 

• Intimidating or harassing staff or other patients.

• Possessing firearms or any weapon.

• Making threats of violence through phone calls, letters, voicemail, email or other forms of written, verbal or electronic communication.

• Physically assaulting or threatening to inflict bodily harm.

• Making verbal threats to harm another individual or destroy property

• Damaging business equipment or property.

• Making menacing or derogatory gestures.

• Making racial or cultural slurs or other derogatory remarks.

 

We are happy to receive respectful communication about any concerns or issues, and value your feedback. The Clinic Manager can be reached at director@seawatchmedical.ca.

 

Please inform the clinic of any cough/fever/flu/cold/vomiting symptoms when booking an appointment. If an in-person appointment is needed, we will book these appointments in a fashion that reduces exposure to other patients.

 

Refilling medications requires an appointment. Please book these well in advance as same-day appointments are intended for urgent medical cases.

 

Modifying any prescriptions, requisitions, or other medical documents is fraud and will result in immediate dismissal from the practice.

 

Appointment booking

If your family physician is away, you may be offered an appointment with another physician (a locum physician).

 

To help us schedule appropriately, please give the reception as much information as possible about your visit — if there are multiple issues you would like to address, please inform reception of all issues.

 

We do our best to stay on schedule. Despite scheduling appointments, unforeseen circumstances arise, and it is difficult to determine ahead of time how long a visit will take. Please forgive us if this causes any inconvenience.

 

No-Show Policy

If you do not attend your appointment (phone or in-person) and do not notify us in advance of your absence there will be a charge as this prevents access for other patients. For simple visits, the charge for a missed appointment is $35, for complex issue appointments/procedures the charge is $70. Please notify your physician or staff if this fee will cause significant financial hardship.

 

Appointments can be cancelled online up to 24h ahead of the appointment; less than that please call the office. Out of business hours, please leave a message.

 

You may be asked to rebook an appointment if you arrive more than half-way through your scheduled visit.

 

Controlled substances

(e.g. Opioids: tylenol 3, morphine, hydromorphone, tramadol, percocet, fentanyl, oxycodone; Benzodiazepines: lorazepam, clonazepam, oxazepam, diazepam; Stimulants: ritalin, concerta, vyvanse, adderall, biphentin)

 

If you are taking these medications, be aware that random urine drug screens will be performed as per recommendations from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. Failure to provide a sample when requested will result in discontinuation of your prescription. Your doctor may request an in-person appointment to refill these medications. All prescriptions for controlled substances will be faxed directly to your pharmacy.

 

Communication

If results are normal, you may not hear from us. If you would like to know the result, please book an appointment with your doctor..

 

Please inform us if a referral was sent and you have not heard back within 6- 8 weeks.

 

Services not covered by MSP

All services not covered by MSP will be charged a fee. The fee guide is here.

 

All forms will require a clinic visit to have these completed and will be released upon payment of the appropriate fee. We understand that the extra cost will be difficult for some patients. If this is the case, please speak with your physician about this.

 

Visits or procedures done for cosmetic reasons, e.g. wart treatment (other than to feet/genital area) and certain immunizations also require a fee.