Dr. Kelley Wright

To our valued patients,  

Due to increasing pressure from multiple facets of the Ontario health care system post-COVD, wait times to see a physician continue to increase. Never before have primary care providers received such a large number of rejected referral requests and delays in obtaining specialized tests and services for our patients. This often means that a single patient referral request can be redirected several times before being accepted. Furthermore, patients must travel further to access these services, and the amount of time and resources that the office must dedicate to complete these requests continues to grow. At the same time, the uncompensated administrative burden or practicing medicine in Ontario continue to accumulate.

Despite an increase in our office hours and employing extra staff, our patients continue to be impacted by these factors, with wait times being the unavoidable result. Our commitment to quality of patient care and attention to your health needs are unwavering. Be assured that not only in this practice, but in multiple health care settings Dr. Wright continues to work tirelessly to care for her patients to the utmost of her abilities without compromise.  

Regarding my schedule

While you may previously have been able to get an appointment within a day or two of your request, you may find that it now takes longer to get an appointment. We appreciate how frustrating this can be.  We are still offering same-day appointments, but these spots have been filling up quickly.  Additionally, patients who booked appointments with reminder calls have not been showing up, making wait times even longer.To continue providing the highest quality service to my patients, we are making some changes to some office policies that will maximize the resources we have to reach that goal.  You can find all our new office policies HERE

Availability and Access to Care

The booking structure we use in the office is two-thirds pre-booked appointments and the remaining one-third of the day available for same day bookings. This allows patients to call my office for SINGLE ISSUE urgent appointments. You are also a patient of the Barrie Family Health Team, which allows access the Barrie after-hours clinics. A schedule and locations of after-hours clinics can be found HERE.

As always, we encourage patients to participate in their own health, and continually ask themselves if there is something more they can be doing to keep well. Before you call for an appointment, ask yourself “do I really need to see the doctor about this”? Or “is this something that may get better on its own given a little more time”? Other options could include reviewing the resources and self-management advice HERE.

Sincerely,

Kelley Wright