You can now get urgent medical care in the Comox Valley outside of regular hours.
The Comox Valley Division of Family Practice, in partnership with Island Health has expanded urgent primary care services for patients.
The Comox Valley After Hours Urgent Care Clinic is open from 5:00pm to 9:00pm and on weekends from 9:00am to 2:00pm for urgent medical care.
Operating out of Washington Park Medical Clinic (757 Ryan Road, above Superstore), local family doctors provide care for urgent, non-emergency health concerns.
“This clinic is unique in that every family doctor and general practitioner in the Comox Valley is welcome to take shifts,” it said in a release.
“Since the onset of COVID, local family doctors noticed a growing gap in care outside of regular working hours. To address this, the community of doctors responded by creating a community after hours clinic,” said Dr. Alfredo Tura.
“We created a clinic that provides timely access to urgent, non-emergency health care after most family practices and walk-in clinics have closed.”
The clinic is working with the Comox Valley Hospital Emergency Department.
The After Hours Urgent Care clinic accepts referrals for patients with non-emergent concerns to access care efficiently and contributes to reducing volumes in the ER.
“We want to provide the right care at the right time,” says Dr. Tura
“We work closely with the patients to understand the urgency of their health concerns; through education and awareness, we discuss the most appropriate care for the patients’ needs. The focus of our clinic is to provide access to urgent primary health care to ensure patients can get the care they need, when they cannot wait to see their family doctor and do not need emergency care.”
This means more access to same-day care for people who need health care within 12 to 24 hours and don’t require a visit to the emergency department, such as people with sprains, cuts, high fevers, work injuries, headaches and minor infections.
All visits are communicated with the patient’s family doctor for follow-up care.
The clinic has been open for one and a half months, and, and the doctors say that patient feedback “has been very positive.”
Through patient surveys, people who attended the clinic reported high satisfaction with the care they received, expressed timely access to care, and understood how to follow up on their care.
Most of all, the patients expressed an immense appreciation for the doctors and staff available to provide care when they or their family are in need.
Call for an appointment after 4:00pm on weekdays and 8:30am on weekends and statutory holidays at 250-334-9241.
This clinic is currently funded in partnership with Island Health.
Find more information on the Comox Valley After Hours Urgent Care Clinic here.
