Little change to virtual urgent care in Grey-Bruce after recent transition
In September the virtual urgent care program transitioned from a local to a regional program. While the hours have changed, very little else has. Brighshores Health System, formerly Grey Bruce Health Services, has changed its virtual urgent care program in Grey-Bruce to be provided by Urgent Care Ontario, a regional provider. While there have been some changes to the hours of service, there is little change from the program offered before. Eligible patients will still have access to a nurse practitioner or physician, and will not be charged a fee for accessing the service. The change has been confirmed by executive vice-president Sean Conroy, who admitted some confusion among some in the community about the change. Conroy said that Brightshores still sees the program as an important aspect of helping to share some of the load being carried by local emergency departments and reduce wait times. The program was initially launched in 2022 as a three-month pilot and saw demand increase, leading to its continuation and expansion. However, provincial ministry funding ran out in March of this year.
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Sean Conroy, Brighshores Health System executive vice-president of strategy and development, explained on Monday that those who access virtual urgent care locally will now be doing so through a provider called Urgent Care Ontario. While there are some changes to the hours of service, there is very little change from the program offered before. Eligible patients will still have access to a nurse practitioner or physician, could have their prescriptions or doctor’s notes fulfilled, and will not be charged a fee for accessing the service.
Conroy said Brightshores has updated its website, and put out some information on social media and through other channels advising of the change, but admitted there had been some confusion by some in the community. “We have transitioned from a local model to a regional model, which really is going to be providing a very similar service, and there is probably a lot more depth to that service, especially when you look to the future plans for it,” Conroy said. “It captures our area, basically covering all of the Southwest, and for all intents and purposes provides the same type of service for sure.” Conroy said Brightshores still sees the program as an important aspect of helping to share some of the load being carried by local emergency departments and reduce wait times.
“There definitely is value and I know our residents in the community have definitely found it useful,” Conroy said. Brightshores, formerly Grey Bruce Health Services, first launched its virtual urgent care program in March 2022 as a three-month pilot, to allow patients to receive medical advice, prescriptions and sick notes online from a doctor while at home. The program saw demand increase steadily, leading to its continuation and expansion. Provincial ministry funding carried the program through to March of this year, at which time that funding was dropped, leaving it up to the various hospitals providing the service to decide if they wanted to continue to operate and fund their own programs. At that same time, the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health were working on virtual urgent care services for the six Ontario Health regions. Grey-Bruce falls under the West region. While many hospitals chose to drop their local programs when the funding ran out, Conroy said Brightshores and the Grey-Bruce Ontario Health Team decided to keep the local virtual urgent care model funded and going until that regional model was in place.
The local model — provided through a platform from a private company called Maple – operated until mid-September, at which time the regional provider, called Urgent Care Ontario, came online and available locally. Conroy said there has been some additional confusion caused as Maple is now continuing to offer their service to the public and other organizations for a fee. Conroy said their contract with Maple has now ended, and some people have received a communication from Maple letting them know they can sign up for their service. Conroy said they are now endorsing the use of the regional model being offered through Urgent Care Ontario, and they no longer have any affiliation with the Maple service. “If someone so chooses that they want to use a private company service such as Maple and pay the fee that is totally up to them,” Conroy said.
“The reality is I don’t know why somebody would when you can go to the regional model that is available for all Ontarians and is supported by Ontario Health.” Urgent Care Ontario was started in early 2021 as a partnership of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, London Health Sciences Centre and Hamilton Health Sciences Centre. It offers virtual urgent through two hubs. Adult care is offered through St. Joseph’s in Hamilton, while the LHSC Children’s Hospital provides the virtual urgent care to children and youth. For Grey-Bruce residents, the virtual urgent care service is now offered five days a week, Monday to Friday. Under the new model, adult appointments are available from 1 to 9 p.m. and pediatric appointments are available from 1 to 5 p.m.
The service is available on a first-come first-served basis for urgent but non-life-threatening medical issues, allowing patients to receive medical care through a virtual visit with a nurse practitioner without travelling to a hospital. Those who cannot wait to see a virtual doctor are told to go to their nearest Emergency Department. Anyone experiencing severe distress, experiencing a medical emergency or experiencing symptoms that worsen while they wait should call 911 or go to the nearest ED. There is no charge to the patient as the program is publicly funded, though an OHIP health card is required to register for an account, and must be provided at the beginning of a visit with a physician. Conroy said the program is expected to evolve in the future, with the virtual care program to be integrated with the province’s Health811 service, which allows callers to connect with a registered nurse day or night for free. “Their plan in the future is to expand it to seven days a week and not just five,” Conroy also noted. Anyone looking to access the virtual urgent care program can do so by visiting the Brightshores website at www.gbhs.on.ca/virtual-urgent-care/ and clicking on the “Request a Virtual Urgent Care Visit” button. There is also a link on the page to learn more about Urgent Care Ontario.