Is a Walk-in Visit Worth the Risk of Being Removed from the Family Doctor Wait-list?

CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2023 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 22

Charlotte Coates says she was rostered to a doctor without her knowledge

Charlotte Coates first joined Ontario's wait-list for a family doctor back in 2020. A month after visiting an Appletree clinic over the summer, Coates realized she was kicked off the list and rostered with a family doctor without her knowledge.

Charlotte Coates, 30, joined the Health Care Connect wait-list — a government-run matching program — in 2020 after her previous family physician retired.

In June, a month after visiting the Appletree clinic on Preston Street in Ottawa, which accepts walk-ins, she said she discovered she was suddenly punted off the list.

"At first I thought there must be a mistake," said Coates.

Coates said she had gone to Appletree to get a requisition for blood work.

After not receiving any new update from Health Care Connect, she said she logged on its portal to check her queue status only to discover she had been assigned to a family doctor who works with Appletree.

"I haven't been told that I had a family doctor," she said. "Nobody contacted me from either side of this situation and I don't know who the family doctor is. I've never met the doctor."

Read More