Good medicine

MD Connected is opening a new location in Lindsay this fall. Launching in 2016, “our main focus was really on providing care to people in rural communities,” said Venky Weylagro, co-CEO of the company. 

If the name sounds familiar, MD Connected was providing telemedicine out of Rexall in the Lindsay Square Mall until the end of December. They had created a hybrid model where they had brick and mortar locations with experienced staff to triage and do consultations and then the patient would be connected with a doctor remotely. 

“We’ve pivoted away from virtual or telemedicine clinics, and we started operating family practices or more comprehensive centres,” Weylagro said. They currently have nine of these clinics, but in September that number will go up to 11. 

During their time in the mall, Weylagro realized that there is a large demand for doctors in the Lindsay area, so they didn’t renew their lease, and are preparing to open a new clinic at 76 William Street North this October. 

“There’s all these Ontarians who don’t have a doctor, or don’t have good access to care, and we want to close that gap,” Weylagro said. Once opened, the William Street clinic will have 10 exam rooms, five full-time doctors, and a couple of specialists that will be announced at a later time, once they know which specialists are in demand in the community. 

Weylagro, along with co-CEO Rakesh Mistry, have been able to set patients up in other area with psychiatrists in under a month, something he said would take much longer in other models of health care. 

Eventually, the clinic will also offer urgent care, for serious but non-emergency cases. The hope is to alleviate wait times at Ross Memorial Hospital and leave the waiting room there open for those with emergencies. 

Walk-in care will also be provided, even for those who have a family doctor. An on-site pharmacy will be available, allowing patients to pick up their prescriptions the same day as their appointment. 

On top of primary care physicians who can provide services including annual physicals, chronic disease management and prescription renewals, nurses are also on site. They’ll be able to provide support for immunizations, wound care, vital monitoring and care coordination. 

The question of how to attract doctors to rural communities is one that’s been long asked. MD Connected is looking to solve this issue using a turnkey model. Traditionally, doctors work like a business owner, and aside from practicing medicine they also spend a substantial amount of time on tasks including paperwork, managing an office, and accounting. 

MD Connected takes care of those administrative tasks. “(Doctors) get to come in and they just get to focus on medicine. They don’t have to worry about marketing, administrative tasks or hiring,” Weylagro said. 

Weylagro has found this model to be well suited for rural areas. “There are some heavily populated communities where patients look at (having a doctor) more as something they’re supposed to get as opposed to a privilege,” he said. In their rural locations, he’s found residents to be welcoming to new clinics opening, and a sense of gratitude for making access to those clinics easy. 

The William Street location won’t be open until October, but with doctors already signed up, a temporary location will open in Kent Place Mall this September. 

For more information on how to sign up for a doctor and when doors will open go to mdconnected.ca.