Access to Care 

In return for our commitment to provide you timely access to medical care, registration as a patient
in my practice means that you agree to always call us first as your primary care clinic unless you are
traveling, or it is an emergency (dial 911 or go to the emergency room). Contact us before seeking
medical attention at another clinic. By respecting this request, your doctor is constantly kept aware
of your state of health allowing us to treat you better. If you are so ill that you need to go to the
Emergency Room, we do not need to be called first. When patients seek primary care elsewhere
(e.g. walk-in clinics, student health, or sports medicine clinics), we are notified by the MOHLTC, and
we are billed for the costs of these visits which affect our organization’s ability to function properly.
Nevertheless, these outside clinics can not access your information at our clinic, and they can not
provide the same continuity of care that our organization prioritizes 

ER visits and specialist visits are not an issue.

This is the responsibility we ask you to take on as a rostered patient

Please note that some issues may not require booking an appointment. Your doctor will review those requests case by case and action them as appropriate. The average response time for these requests is 3-5 business days.

Example:
• Prescription refill without assessment. (*Fee may apply)

• Receiving prescription initiation or refill due to switching over to a new pharmacy within your last active refill supply.
    To learn more see the "Preparing for your appointment" section.

• Benefit-related prescriptions (Physiotherapy/ Massage/Custom Orthotics, Braces, etc.) (*Fee may apply)

• Diabetic supplies renewal.

• Parking permit form.

• Patient received Cancer screening letters (FIT test, Mammography,)

• Other Miscellaneous Types of short Forms (Special Diet or similar)

• Report an Immunization / Vaccination

• Referral for PAP test by a female practitioner.

• Pay your annual block fee (Learn more)

• When calling to book an appointment, please have your calendar and valid health card ready!

• Why do I need to update my contact information?
  If you change your work or home phone number, get a new OHIP card, or move please be sure to notify us promptly so that we have current contact information for you. We can only get in touch with you regarding important health issues such as abnormal test results, overdue immunizations or preventive tests, and new warnings about medications if we have your correct phone number, email, and physical address. 

• Language barriers: The front desk staff speaks only English, and your doctor speaks only English and Arabic, please secure an interpreter to accompany you if you feel there will be a language barrier.

• Phoning in the clinic to schedule an appointment & the reason of the visit:
  Phone calls are handled by our office staff. If you wish to speak to a doctor, it is usually preferable to make an appointment, so that the problem can be properly assessed and addressed. To allow us to provide the best possible care, please do not spend 10 minutes complaining to the front staff about phone wait time as this adds to the lengthy waits on the phone, please do not ask for a diagnosis or a new prescription by phone. Instead, state in 5 words or less, the reason you need the appointment: chest pain, back pain, diarrhea, etc. 

• WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REGULAR APPOINTMENT AND AN APPOINTMENT FOR A PERIODIC HEALTH VISIT?
  A regular appointment is to address a specific health concern. A physical (previously called an Annual Physical Exam) involves a customized review of your current health status including a review of your health history and a physical exam. It typically includes an update on your medical history, height, weight, and blood pressure, a full physical examination, and a review of immunization status, medications, and preventive care measures. To learn more see the Physical OR Checkups visit section.

• Online appointment booking is currently limited to in-person follow-up appointments only (not for discussing new medical issues). We do not have any urgent appointments available for scheduling through the online booking portal. For all other appointments, including same-day appointments, Urgent after-hours appointments, virtual care or telephone appointments, injections/allergy shots, well-baby visits, prenatal visits, immunizations, Pap tests, and adult wellness (periodic health review), please call the clinic at 613 369 8330, as these appointments are triaged and are only available at certain times of the day.

• Appointment reminder set up: Please remember when you book online, you will receive an appointment reminder from Hazeldean Medical Clinic it may accidentally end up in your spam folder or junk mail. Remember to add the clinic’s domain address “noreply@cognisantmd.com” to your “safe senders list” to prevent appointment reminders from being moved to your Junk E-mail folder.

• Medication Refill Requests: Can I get my medications refilled today? See the Prescriptions section for an answer. You will also be receiving our new uninsured services policy via mail shortly. 

• Do you have a form that needs to be filled out? For forms/notes/letters from the doctor, you should always inform the booking staff if you need these extra services before your appointment. See the Forms section for more details. You will also be receiving our new uninsured services policy via mail shortly.

• Other family members: If you schedule an appointment for yourself, the scheduled time is reserved specifically for you. If you intend to discuss your child or other family members, please ask the staff to book a separate time dedicated to your registered child or family member at this clinic. 

• Need a sick note? Unfortunately, OHIP does not pay for sick notes, absentee notes, or other work-related forms. As a result, we must charge a fee for this uninsured service to cover our HR costs. Some places of employment recompense their employees for the cost of sick notes; please check with your employer. If you need a sick note from us, please inform us at the time of booking, or at least at the start of your visit, so that we can allocate time to complete it. The annual block fee covers this cost. For more information on uninsured services. Click here. You will also be receiving our new uninsured services policy via mail shortly. 

• I live far away and I have a form I want to deliver to the clinic. How Can I send my documents to the clinic? Unfortunately, we're currently unable to help you in this situation. However, we will be having a system coming soon that will allow you to send your documents from far away.

• Confirming Your Appointment: Once an appointment has been scheduled, you will receive an automated email confirmation in your Brock email 3 days prior to your appointment. This confirmation is required to secure your appointment. Some appointments have secure  digital forms that must be completed prior to coming to your appointment.

If you are admitted to hospital, please notify our office once you have a confirmed discharge date. We try to keep abreast of patients when admitted to hospital to assure proper continuity of care. Hospitals often recommend that patients follow up with their family doctor upon discharge. When booking appointments please make sure to let our staff know the reason for the appointment is ‘Hospital discharge’ so that they can allow sufficient time for this follow up. 

NOTE: All visit types are by appointment only and must be scheduled in advance by calling our office or booking online.

SAME-DAY/WEEK: Call in the morning if you would like an appointment. Phones are answered starting at 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on weekdays. It is advisable to call early in the morning as the day may fill up quickly. Same-day appointments are NOT for the completion of forms, prescription refills, routine test results follow-up, or for follow-up visits of chronic/ongoing issues or immunizations. This type of appointment requires a regular pre-booked appointment with your family doctor.

PRE-BOOKED: A portion of each day is allowed to be pre-booked in advance. Many of these slots are used for routine follow-up and chronic care visits but are also available to patients who wish to pre-book. These spaces are limited and may need to be booked weeks in advance.

DIABETES CLINIC: Do you have diabetes and tired of waiting on hold to book your appointment? By pressing this button below, you will be able to schedule your next diabetes review appointment online: Check-In | Online Booking (cognisantmd.com)

AFTER-HOURS: As part of the FHO you will now have access to our same-day urgent appointments with one of our FHO family doctors in our after-hours clinic. Our after-hours clinics will be Monday to Thursday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Saturday morning from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. If you are a rostered patient at my practice, you may attend an after-hours clinic and be seen by the physician on duty. Patients are seen on a “first come, first serve” basis. Registration may close early if capacity is reached. Please DO NOT SHOW UP without a pre-booked urgent care appointment.

Urgent care is limited to one problem only. Please try to use these clinics for urgent care needs only such as urinary tract infections, abdominal pain/diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infections, asthma exacerbation, itchy/painful rashes, ear infections, and adults/children with fever, vomiting, and or diarrhea. For more severe symptoms such as but not limited to: chest pain, breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, seizures, major eye injuries, spinal/head injury, poisoning/overdose, and severe abdominal pain. Please proceed to your nearest emergency room.

Urgent care appointment is NOT for completion of forms, prescription refills, routine test results follow-up, chronic/ongoing issues or immunizations, cancer screening, requests for non-urgent referrals, non-urgent clinical procedures, routine blood pressure check, OR discussing family member health. These types of appointments require a regular pre-booked appointment with your family doctor.

For chronic issues, it is best to see one’s own regular primary care provider. 

In addition to the conventional in-person visit, Telehealth is now available. Telehealth appointments should only be booked for things that can be dealt with on the phone. They are NOT a shortcut to get a faster In-Person appointment.

Telehealth care from outside Ontario: Legally, We can only provide care for patients in Ontario, at the point of the consult. Do not book phone or virtual video appointments if you are out of the province or out of the country. You will need to seek care in that location.

1. Virtual Video (To test your connection) click here.

Appointment reminder: Please remember when you book for a virtual video appointment, you will receive an appointment reminder from Telus Health. It may accidentally end up in your spam folder or junk mail. Remember to add the Telus Health domain address “noreply@virtualvisit.telushealth.com” to your “safe senders list” to prevent appointment reminders from being moved to your Junk E-mail folder. If you need technical support for your Virtual Video appointment you can contact Telus Health at 1-855-252-2632 or call our clinic at 613 369 8332  

2. Telephone Call appointments (Please make sure your phone does NOT block “Unknown Called” numbers. Should you miss your call? your doctor will try one further time only.

Please be informed that:
Virtual appointments or telephone call appointments are only available to patients that have seen doctor Alchalabi in person within the last 2 years.

We offer continuity of care and access to a team of doctors and staff. My availability can be found here: Home