Policies and Procedures

To book an appointment email your request to foresthillfamilyhealth@gmail.com or call 416 782 6111 with one of the following extensions:

Dr. Yoel Abells, ext. 119 Dr. Orli Goldberg, ext. 119 Dr. Robert Kingstone, ext. 119

Dr. Dara Abells, ext. 150 Dr. Jeff Charendoff, ext. 121 Dr. Nicole Shievitz, ext. 128 Dr. Ricardo Brandao, ext. 150 Dr. Christina Fisher, ext. 128

Please briefly advise us of the reason for your visit so that we may book the appropriate amount of time for you. Note that our physicians are able to address one problem per visit. If you have multiple complaints, you will be asked to book an additional appointment.

We will make every effort to ensure that you see your regular physician for your appointment.

For urgent after hours care Monday – Thursday: 5:00pm – 8:00pm Saturday OR Sunday: 9:30am – 12:30pm

To book before 4:00pm: call 416-782-6111 or email foresthillfamilyhealth@gmail.com OR by going directly to this link: https://ocean.cognisantmd.com/online-booking/1330eadb-537e-4d0a-a49f-412ee317494c

Cancellations must be made prior to one business day before your appointment. You will be charged ($65 – $140) for a missed appointment without the required notice. Call 416-782-6111 ext. 1 to cancel your appointment. Please call back to rebook your appointment.

Before making an appointment, be sure that you have a valid health card. Please bring your health card with you to every visit. Advise the staff of any changes to your address or phone number(s).

It is the patient’s responsibility to arrange for a follow-up appointment before a current prescription expires. There is a $30.00 fee for prescription renewals over the phone, unless the annual fee has been paid.

The periodic health visit is a service performed once a year and should be booked well in advance. This appointment allows the physician an opportunity to assess you when you are healthy, renew prescriptions and discuss preventative health care. This visit includes an assessment focusing on age and gender appropriate history, physical examination, health screening and relevant counseling. Please note that pap smears are now performed every 3 years (providing previous paps have been normal).

Please do not save problems or urgent issues for this visit. Make an appointment to be seen sooner for specific or urgent concerns.

Your doctor will advise you to call back for results or tell you if you will be informed by the office upon receipt of your results. Some doctors may call you for a follow-up visit to discuss results. If you require additional information concerning your results, schedule an appointment with your physician.

We are pleased to provide the laboratory service to our patients. Note the lab is exclusively for patients of Forest Hill Family Health Centre. The following is a table of approximate turnaround times for test results. Please note the all turnaround times are subject to change.

 

Test	Turnaround Time
Diagnostic Imaging (mammogram, bone density, x-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, fluoroscopy)	7-14 business days
Lab Results – Routine	7-14 business days
Lab Results- Public Health (e.g. HIV, STDs, VDRL, prenatal tests)	14-30 business days
MRI/CT Results	4-6 weeks
Paps, Biopsies	4-6 weeks

Third party services are those non – OHIP covered activities that involve a physician’s examination of a patient or a patient’s chart for the purpose of filling out a document or report requested by someone other than a health professional. Requests for notes of any sort (eg. for sick leave, orthotics, therapy, etc.), or other forms should be made at the reception desk. Leave forms with the receptionist who will give it to the appropriate physician at the end of the day. Please note the doctor requires a minimum of seven business days to complete a simple form and more time will be needed to review a complex report. You will be informed if the physician decides that an appointment is required as well as the cost for this non-OHIP covered service.

The government continues to cut back on medical services that were previously covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP). At the same time, there has been an overwhelming rise in the amount of paperwork (forms, letters etc.). With the ever-increasing rise in costs of operating a family practice, we find that we can no longer absorb these costs because these services involve significant material costs and are very time consuming. For example, the renewal of prescriptions by telephone or fax without an office visit requires review of the file, file entries and communication with the pharmacies.

To address this issue, we introduced a fee schedule for these services. There are two ways through which you may wish to deal with these fees. To provide peace of mind to you, and in order to minimize administrative costs of billing each service individually, we ask that you consider paying an annual fee. This fee does not cover certain items such as legal letters and missed appointments. However, it does cover many services that are important to your health care management yet are not covered by OHIP. Alternatively, if you do not choose to accept the annual coverage program, you can pay for individual services at the time that these are provided.

We do not tolerate rude or abusive behaviour towards our staff or physicians. This may result in your dismissal from the practice.