Brett Thoms
PONTIAC March 02 2022
Minor emergency clinics are now available across the region seven days a week.
The clinics are run by GMF du Pontiac, a group that coordinates primary care physicians and nurses in the region.
The clinics will run between 4:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m on weekdays and typically from 8:00 a.m to noon weekdays, though that can sometimes vary, according to Dr. John Wootton, head of the GMF du Pontiac and family physician based out of Shawville.
The location clinics can also vary in their location . . .
around the Pontiac, though where the clinic gets scheduled depends on the availability of physicians and other staff, according to Wootton.
“Sometimes the clinics will be mostly to the west or north on a certain week and then other weeks, they’ll be mostly to the east. We really can’t control exactly where they’ll be every week, [as] it depends on the given doctor’s schedule,” said Danielle Romain, coordinator for the GMF du Pontiac.
A minor emergency can be anything that doesn’t require urgent care at the hospital. “ It could be a developing rash, [or] it could be for a prescription renewal, ‘’ said Romain.
The clinics also see patients who don’t have a regular family doctor. Patients without a doctor are urged to sign up to the GMF waitlist and use the minor emergency clinics if they need care.
“It’s a very good way to meet a doctor and hope that the doctor accepts them as patients,” said Romain.
Clinic scheduling opens up 48 hours before the clinic takes place, and patients can register through RVSQ online. Emergency departments at hospitals will also refer patients to the clinics if they have issues that can be managed outside of the hospital, according to Wootten.
Until March 31, the minor emergency clinics will be run seven days a week, but after April 1 they may be reduced to six due to the recent retirement of several doctors in the region. “We have two new physicians joining the GMF shortly and depending on their caseload, it may bump us back up to deliver [seven days a week], so this is a bit of a moving target,” said John Wootton.
