Would you pay $300 a year for quick access to a nurse? Dealing with demand, Ontario doctors get creative – CTV
Feb. 3, 2023
There came a point during the pandemic, about nine months ago, when the staff at a pediatric clinic in Toronto was turning away at least 100 callers per day who were looking for a primary care provider.
At the same time, Kindercare Pediatric’s rostered patients were waiting longer than they should to see their own doctors. The way Kindercare owner Dr. Dan Flanders describes it, the scene was one of desperation.
“It became very, I don’t know, distressing for everyone. Like, here we are, we have doctors and there’s just an incredible need that’s not getting met,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Jan. 27.
“It’s hundreds of families a day saying, ‘Our new baby needs a doctor, do you have any doctors for us?’ And we would have to say, ‘No, sorry, we don’t.'”
That’s about the time Flanders decided to hire two nurse practitioners and start an offshoot service called Kindercare365. The service launched on Jan. 26, after months of planning, allowing families who subscribe to access same-day virtual appointments, or same- or next-day in-person appointments, with a dedicated nurse practitioner, seven days a week. The catch is, there’s a fee.
