London Health Sciences Centre says it will extend its virtual pediatric urgent care clinic beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move by the London, Ont., hospital network will be done in consultation with regional partners, LHSC said.
The service currently provides patients with a chance to connect with a care provider remotely.
This could include having a family discuss a child condition’s with a pediatric emergency room physician by video.
The virtual clinic has seen more than 5,600 patients since its launch in May 2020 as a response to the pandemic. LHSC says one-third of those patients accessed care from outside the London and Middlesex County region.
So far this year, about 1,300 visits have been booked for the virtual clinic and LHSC says a recent patient survey showed 72 per cent of those polled “strongly agree that virtual visits are as good as, or better than, in-person visits.”
Patients or caregivers can contact the virtual clinic over the phone at 1-844-CARE-844.
Appointments can also be scheduled online through Urgent Care Ontario, which operates out of LHSC, as well as St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton Health Sciences and Niagara Health.