EXCLUSIVE: New family clinic will take on 3,000 de-rostered Group Health patients

Two family physicians are leaving the Group Health Centre and opening the doors next month to a brand-new medical clinic on Second Line East — and they’re taking all 3,000 of their soon-to-be de-rostered patients with them.

Doctors Kiran Waqas and Manjeet Singh will begin welcoming patients into the newly established Great Lakes Clinic in the plaza across from the Michael’s arts and crafts store on June 4.

The move comes nearly four months after Group Health announced that 10,000 of its patients were losing access to primary care as of May 31, prompting a number of questions as the deadline nears.

Great Lakes Clinic, located at 710 Second Line East, Unit 6, will provide a wide variety of services, including general family medicine practice and a walk-in clinic, as well as preventative care, chronic disease management, immunizations and vaccinations, health screenings and physical exams.

They will also offer special appointments like newborn follow-up, post hospital discharge visits, prenatal visits, diabetic clinic, and periodic screening for men and women.

Not only will 30 per cent of the Group Health's de-rostered patients have renewed access to care, but so too will anyone in Sault Ste. Marie who holds a health card, including those who don’t have a family doctor, according to Dr. Singh.

“Our patients which are rostered to us will be able to book an appointment online, or they can come as a walk-in,” she explained. “Anyone who doesn’t belong to our practice will have to come as a walk-in because their health card information is not in our system.”

For family practice, appointments can be booked online starting June 4, while the walk-in clinic will be on a first come, first served basis — no appointments required.

Their hours of operation will also include weekends:

• Tuesday to Friday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Saturday to Sunday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Monday: Closed

“It’s a true walk-in; it’s urgent care,” Dr. Waqas said. “We’re hoping this drives patients away from the ER so they can come to us. If a patient comes in with a fracture or pneumonia and they need an X-ray, we can direct them to the radiology department in the hospital instead. It’s going to be a huge win for everybody. The hospital has been very supportive.”

Dr. Waqas began practicing in the Sault in 2019 after she finished her family medicine residency with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. She has been employed with the Group Health Centre for the past five years.

During the pandemic, Dr. Singh moved from southern Ontario and began working at the Group Health in 2020 where she met Dr. Waqas. Both are still employed with the Group Health until May 31, and both are happily raising their young families in the Sault.

In recent times, the two came to the conclusion that opening up their own practice was the only viable option they had to ensure their patients didn’t lose access to vital services.

So, they got to work.

“We’ve been in talks with the ministry for the past six months and have been advocating for our patients,” Dr. Waqas said. “They let us start a family practice and we were able to keep our patients. Doing this clinic was very hard, from all the financial complexities to meeting all these different people. But we were able to build this clinic from A to Z on our own.”

While the intensity of running such an in-demand resource sounds extreme for just two physicians, Dr. Waqas noted that more help is coming.

A pilot program called Practice-Ready Assessment is expected to bring several internationally trained family physicians from southern Ontario to the Great Lakes Clinic for 12 weeks of supervised training from both physicians.

Candidates who successfully complete the assessment will be required to complete a three-year Return of Service agreement and practice in an Ontario community as identified by the ministry.

“We’re hoping we’ll be able to impress them with our clinic, with the community, and get candidates who will start their family practice here in town,” Dr. Waqas said. “In the next one to two years, we’re hoping to absorb all 10,000 patients getting de-rostered.”

“There is no proper family medicine or walk-in clinic here with weekend access and after-hours access,” she continued. “That’s why we’ll be able to recruit more physicians, because our clinic has a family practice, it has a walk-in, and it has all of these other special services.”

Doctors Waqas and Singh will welcome three nurses, two volunteers, and a front-desk person to round out the first edition of their team in the coming days.

A letter notifying their 3,000 Group Health patients of the transition of services to 710 Second Line East, Unit 6, is expected to be delivered at some point this week.

Great Lakes Clinic will officially open its doors to patients on June 4.

“It’s a relief we have our patients following us,” Dr. Singh said. “We’re delighted we can offer more services to the community.”

“Our goal is to treat everybody,” Dr. Waqas added. “We love this town and love our patients. This is a big step for the community. It’s healthcare for all.”