Local walk-in clinics no longer open to all Barrie residents

Barrie residents without a family doctor now have even fewer options for accessing medical care.

Two busy walk-in clinics — one located on Bell Farm Road in the city’s north end and the other on Big Bay Point Road in the south — are no longer accepting patients who either do not have a primary care doctor or whose doctor is not a Barrie Family Health Organization (FHO) member.

The FHO is made up more than 100 local family physicians with 93 operating family practices as a part of the Barrie and Community Family Medicine Clinics. 

“Effective Aug. 1, 2022, the Barrie and Community Family Medicine Clinics (BCFMC) will be restructuring,” noted an e-letter sent to patients of one Barrie medical practice. “We are pleased to announce that we are transitioning from a walk-in clinic to an after-hours clinic model.”

The change means the two clinics will now be servicing Barrie FHO enrolled patients only, and all patients must have an appointment to attend. 

The move is frustrating to long-time Barrie resident Sue Ketcheson. She and her family have been without a family doctor for several years after their doctor retired and was unable to find anyone willing to take over the practice.

The family, which lives in the city’s south end, has relied on walk-in clinics, including the Prince William walk-in clinic, for access to medical care. News that the clinic will now only be open to patients whose family doctor is a member of the Barrie and Community Family Health Team, is stressful. She said she is worried about getting necessary medications, some of which can only be prescribed by a family doctor.

“We are already (worried) because we can’t get the first prescription through Rocket Doctor (a virtual doctor),” she said. “It’s a big issue.”

Although she and her family are all pretty healthy, not having a physician has meant going without a variety of important medical procedures over the last several years, she explained.

“I am over 50 and I haven’t had a mammogram or a pap smear … or any of those tests because I don’t have a family doctor. Not having a walk-in clinic means even dealing with things like sinus infections become a huge issue,” she said. “What are people supposed to do?”

Ketcheson admits there are always things that are outside of people’s control, but she wonders why the decision to close the clinics to the entire community was made.

“We have a global pandemic, and I think in part we can blame the provincial government for not solving this health-care crisis, but I moved to the Barrie area in the late 90s and it’s been under-serviced the whole time,” she said.

“By making this decision, they’re taking away yet another option for families. It’s like they’re squeezing things even more tightly. I don’t know why they are doing this, but it seems like they’re doing a disservice to the community and I would question the ethics of doing it," said Ketcheson.

She said she understands the pressure medical professionals are under, but believes there has to be another way aside from taking away an option for people who don’t have doctors.

“We need to start looking at options for people and for families. My husband and I are both in our 50s now and luckily very healthy but what happens when you start to have health problems when you age?” she asked.

“By doing this, I think the people who are the most vulnerable are going to be the most impacted, which I guess is always the case in society. Barrie is an area people move to… the fact they’re taking away an option means people moving to the community are going to be impacted and that just seems problematic," she said.

Jena Trottier has two young children and counts herself to be “one of the lucky ones” who has a family doctor in the city. Despite that, Trottier told BarrieToday she was also concerned when she learned that the two walk-in clinics will now be closed to a large portion of the population. 

“I am fortunate to have a family doctor on the list (but) my mom doesn’t," said Trottier. "She does have specialists here that she’s acquired through emergency room (visits), but I have a friend that moved up here last June and they’re driving back to Scarborough.

"I would love to know the reason behind it,” she said. “Huronia Urgent Care and the ER are going to be overrun with people who could potentially be better off getting assistance at a walk-in clinic but now they will have no option … or they will have to drive somewhere else out of the area.

Representatives from the FHO did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication of this article.