Dear Upstream Clinic Patients:
Thank you to all of you for being patient and understanding during these difficult times. Please be reassured that your health remains our top priority.
As some of you may have already noticed we have switched to using primarily “Telehealth” phone and video appointments. This is to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission at our clinic.
PLEASE note that our clinic will no longer be seeing ANY patients with cold or flu like symptoms. DO NOT come to the clinic with ANY respiratory symptoms at all. This means any fever, cough, runny nose, sinus congestion or difficulty breathing.
** STARTING on Monday March 23rd the Sunshine Coast has opened a Respiratory Assessment Clinic that will run 7 days a week between 8:30am – 4:30pm. This is by appointment only and will initially be an assessment over the phone by a physician. If your symptoms require further assessment they will book you for an in-person appointment.
Please call 604-740-1252 to book an appointment. If you can not get through then you can text this number or email them at coastrespclinic@gmail.com and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. This clinic will also be doing all COVID -19 testing for those that qualify (see below).
Please note that during the day the Respiratory Clinic should be your first choice for all respiratory concerns. After hours or on weekends you can call the BC COVID-19 hotline at 1-888-COVID19 (1-888-268-4319) or use the online self-assessment tool at COVID THRIVE HEALTH. For mild respiratory symptoms similar to a cold please simply self isolate yourself at home for 10 days. After 10 days (post onset of symptoms) you may return to regular activity. Please note that we are no longer doing COVID testing unless you are:
- a healthcare professional
- in 3rd trimester of pregnancy or
- are admitted to hospital.
If you feel you need urgent attention obviously go to ER or call 911. If you are heading to our Emergency Department please call ahead to let them know you are coming in or call an ambulance as needed.
All of our physicians will continue to be available by Telehealth with a similar schedule to previous. This schedule will be changed weekly though due to the increasing hospital demands of our physicians and may change with very little warning.
Appointment times continue to be given as SAME DAY BOOKINGS. Please call at 9am to book a Telehealth appointment with your physicians.
This is how appointments will take place:
- Your MD will call you at the time of your appointment.
- You do not need to do anything other than make sure you have your phone by your side and your ringer is turned on.
- Please ensure your phone settings accept calls from “unidentified callers” as the call may come from a “blocked caller ID”.
- If your MD feels you need to be assessed in person we will make arrangements to do so.
- Going forward we may switch to using video platforms for these appointments. More news to come on this in the future.
For MATERNITY patients: Dr Scott will continue to see you by either Telehealth or in-person visits on Tuesdays. As you can see traffic in our clinic is much reduced and Dr. Scott will be working out of two specific rooms & one bathroom only to keep risk of transmission low. Please let us know of any concerns. Please note that if you are in 3rd trimester and are having respiratory symptoms you are eligible for COVID-19 testing. Please call Dr. Scott or our Respiratory Assessment Clinic for advice.
We encourage all of you to follow provincial guidelines on social distancing. This is crucially important to reducing spread of COVID-19 within our community and decreasing the burden on our Healthcare System.
If you have ANY recent TRAVEL history then please ensure you self isolate for 14 DAYS and do NOT leave the house for any reason other than essential medical needs or being in the outdoors. Have your friends drop off groceries or have them delivered.
Please note that Sechelt Hospital and all long term care facilities have now limited all visitors to ESSENTIAL visits ONLY. This includes compassionate care (end of life, critical illness), visits paramount to patient/resident well being (assistance with feeding, mobility) or existing registered volunteers. This is for patient/resident safety and is being enforced by VCH.
Please note that all employers should no longer require SICK NOTES. Doctors of BC has been very clear on this request to employers. You may advise your employer accordingly.
Please note that we advise the use of Tylenol (Acetaminophen) rather than NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, Advil, Aleve) for all flu like symptoms.
The physicians on the Coast have formed a Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task force. They can be followed on Facebook and are posting almost daily online on the Coast Reporter. Please check their daily updates for new information.
Thank you from the physicians at Upstream Medical Clinic. We will try to post updated notices as things continue to evolve.
– Suzanne Walter, Simon Reznick, Ron Mundy, Brenda Li Pak Tong, Adetunji Oremakinde, Karen Scott
Download the PDF version of this update: