What We Do

The Orleans Urgent Care Clinic (OUCC) is a free-standing emergency care facility in Orleans, Ontario, Canada. We are staffed with emergency physicians and RNs who take care of urgent medical problems. We have many of the same capabilities as a hospital emergency department.

What We Don't Do

The OUCC is not a family care or walk-in clinic in the usual sense. We do not accept appointment bookings, and we do not provide ongoing follow-up medical care. We resemble a hospital emergency department more than we do a family practice or walk-in family care center. Patients with non-urgent medical problems are referred back to their family physicians for treatment. However, the Clinic does not accept ambulances and does not have a facility to admit patients.

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Our Goal

Our goal is to provide high-quality, pre-hospital ambulatory urgent medical care to the people of Orleans and the surrounding community.

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Facilities / Services

The OUCC has many of the same medical facilities and equipment available in a hospital emergency department, including a fully equipped resuscitation room. The clinic is equipped to administer treatment for serious, acute medical conditions including heart attack, asthma, fractures and dislocations, lacerations, allergic reactions, etc.

With highly skilled and experienced staff, and the availability of lab, x-ray and pharmacy facilities on site, we are able to treat patients with a variety of acute illnesses and injuries. Once urgent problems are stabilized, it may be necessary to refer patients to an appropriate hospital for further treatment. The OUCC does not accept ambulances and does not have facilities to admit patients. Patients who are seen and stabilized by a clinic physician, and who require admission to hospital, are sent to an appropriate facility after transfer arrangements have been made by the clinic. Sometimes this can occur by the patient's own transport, but will sometimes require ambulance transfer. Click here to view our policy on ambulance transfers.

The Clinic is not organized to provide the services of a family physician, and cannot replace patients' regular doctors. If a problem requires the immediate services of a consultant specialist, the Clinic will attempt to make the appropriate arrangements for timely follow-up.

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Our Staff

The Clinic is staffed by professionally trained emergency physicians and nurses, most of whom have a great deal of experience working in hospital emergency departments. We are equipped to handle the full range of medical and surgical emergencies in patients of all ages. There are two physicians on duty at all times during the weekdays; three on weekends and statutory holidays.

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Who Do We See First?

The Clinic staff will always attempt to quickly identify and see patients with urgent problems on a priority basis. Otherwise, patients are seen on a "first come first served" basis.

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Waiting Times

Our goal is to limit the wait between the time patient registers to the time he or she sees a physician to less than an hour; however, depending on patient volume, this is not always possible. For instance, in 1999 and 2000, the Orleans Urgent Care Clinic cared for 70,000 patients each year - more visits than any of the hospital emergency departments in Ottawa! When the waiting time becomes longer than an hour, we try to bring in additional physicians. We believe that the public is aware of the unpredictable nature of our health practice, and we appreciate your patience and understanding.

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Cost of Services

The OUCC is a free-standing, privately owned and operated business; however, there are no user fees associated with Clinic services. The Clinic provides insured health care services to any resident of Ontario with a valid Ontario Health Insurance Policy (OHIP) card. (Please see our payment policies for further details on payment for services for non-residents of Ontario and uninsured services.)

However, because we are a privately owned and operated business, we do not receive any funding or other support from any level of government. For this reason, we must sometimes ask patients to cover the cost of certain items required to treat a medical problem. Some of these materials (such as intravenous solutions for dehydration or injections for severe pain) might otherwise be free of charge to you in a hospital. These costs are reimbursable to patients with medical coverage through a benefits plan, but we do understand if patients prefer to use the services of a hospital or other facility that is subsidized by tax dollars.

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Research Activities

From time to time, the Clinic will participate in various medical research studies sponsored by local area hospitals; for instance, starting in February 2001, the Clinic began to participate actively in a major research study conducted by the Infectious Diseases Department at CHEO concerning the need for antibiotic treatment in ear infections for children. Clinic patients will have an opportunity to participate in these studies when OUCC becomes involved.

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