Note to Patients – COVID-19

A Note to Patients – COVID-19

Dear Patients of the Wawa Family Health Team,

Due to the current and impending COVID-19 pandemic, we will be making temporary changes in the way we deliver your care.  Our goal is to minimize potential exposure to as many people as possible, while freeing up resources to attend to those who require urgent care.

Starting immediately:

  • we will no longer be booking routine appointments (including routine physicals, pap smears, wart treatment).
  • If you have an appointment scheduled currently, you will be contacted to cancel or amend this appointment to a virtual appointment.
  • Additionally, we will be reviewing our schedules and incoming appointments – those that can be accomplished safely by telephone or a virtual visit (via OTN) will be booked as such.  Those patients with needs that are of a more urgent nature and require an in-person visit will be offered this option.

In order to help reduce the spread of the virus, we ask for your help.  If you have respiratory symptoms (cough, fever, running nose, sore throat, difficulty breathing), have travelled outside of the country, or have had contact with someone with respiratory systems and travel, we ask that you STAY HOME, and call the Wawa Family Health Team (during business hours) at 705-856-1313 for further direction.  PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND OUR OFFICE WITHOUT INSTRUCTION IN THIS CASE.

If you have any questions about COVID-19 please call the Algoma Public Health Unit at (705) 759-5404 or 1-866-892-0172 x 5404 or call Telehealth Ontario for medical advice at 1-866-797-0000.

As a community, our responsibility at this time is to minimize the virus spread and the impending impact on our healthcare system.  If you are able to delay your elective medical appointments, we urge you to do so.  We also ask that you do not attend the EMERGENCY ROOM unless it is a clear EMERGENCY.  There are other modes of testing if you are concerned you have contracted the virus.

In regard to your greater social obligations, we urge you to wash your hands and just stay home.  Please reconsider attending large public venues, events and travelling.  The more successful we are at social distancing, the best chance we have at minimizing the impact of this virus.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this.  These changes will be regularly assessed and are in place until further notice.

More from the WawaFHT