Appointments
We hope that you are able to book your appointments with your own Family Physician or Nurse Practitioner. If you have an urgent problem, or are unable to do so for scheduling reasons, another primary care provider in the office may be able to see you. We ask that you describe, to your best ability, the reason you are coming in for an appointment, in doing this we will be able to give you the appropriate length of appointment. Please show up a few minutes early in case our staff need to update your information or perform any tests. Please bring your Care Card and list of medications (with doses), including any over the counter supplements or medicines.
We will be reserving time for urgent or same day access appointments. Please call if you need to see a clinician urgently. We will do our best to schedule as many same-day appointments as possible.
We request that you try to book as many of your routine appointments as possible on-line.
Please note that our staff are unable to give results over the phone. We always recommend that you book a follow up appointment to review results, unless you make prior arrangements with your Family Physician or Nurse Practitioner. Please book an appointment with your Family Physician or Nurse Practitioner for all prescription refills. We prescribe medications for as long as it is reasonable to go before requiring follow up. This will differ with each medication. Please plan ahead when booking for prescription refills. If needed, your pharmacist may be able to provide a short supply of emergency refills until you can get an appointment.
All appointments require 4 hour notification to cancel. If you do not do this, you will be charged for a missed appointment at $35 for a short appointment and $60 for a long appointment (complete physical, counseling, drivers medical for example).
Periodic health examinations are not covered under Medical Services Plan unless you are under 5 or over 55 years of age or have a chronic medical condition. Periodic health examinations must be booked in advance, as this visit will be dedicated to do a comprehensive health audit and education session. Patients should not save problems or urgent issues for this appointment. Make an appointment to be seen much sooner for specific or urgent concerns.
Uninsured Services
Some medical office services, called uninsured services, are not covered by BC Health Insurance and must be paid for directly by the patient, regardless of whether they have BC Health insurance or not. These fees may be covered under a patient’s private health insurance and the patient may be reimbursed for fees paid to the clinic. Please check with your own insurance carrier. The fees charged by the clinic for uninsured services are in compliance with the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) guidelines, which are updated on an annual basis.
Fees for medical services that are not covered by the provincial insurance plan are the responsibility of you, the patient. The fees assigned are as per the recommendations of the provincial medical association. We realize and will always take into consideration that some patients may not be able to pay for these services. Please don’t hesitate to inform us if these fees place an undue financial burden on you.
Gender Neutral Policy
Patients must be comfortable with receiving care from either a male or female primary care provider.
Teaching
The physicians at West Coast Family Medical Clinic all hold faculty positions in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC and/or UVic. We have both medical students and residents in the clinic throughout the year. We hope that you will help us teach our next generations of physicians. We understand that for certain issues you may prefer to not have a learner present. If this is the case please notify the MOA’s when you arrive for your appointment.