Sydenham Medical Centre’s Big Move

Wilma Kenny | Jun 22, 2017

“Today’s question is, ‘where will we put the fax machine?’ says Dr Jeanette Dietrich with a smile, “ and this afternoon I have to measure all our current furniture so we can decide what we’re taking with us, and how it will fit into our new space.”

Moving’s never easy, and Sydenham Medical Clinic’s move is particularly challenging for it’s essential to keep down-time to a minimum throughout the whole exercise.

Sydenham’s clinic is a part of the Rural Kingston Family Health Organization (FHO); an administrative body made up of the physician-led clinics in Sydenham, Verona, Sharbot Lake, Newburgh, Tamworth and Northbrook. Dr Dietrich is the lead physician for the FHO.

For many years the medical clinic has operated from a rented building on Campbell Road, south of Sydenham. Over the years as services have expanded, space has become increasingly tight, and staff is looking forward to moving into their new, much more spacious location on Rutledge Road, just past Silverbrook Garden Centre. (Darryl Silver, who purpose-built the new structure to accommodate the clinic, will be their new landlord.)

Family practitioners Jeanette Dietrich, Steve Ingo and Jack Raleigh, nurses Meredith Prikker and Blaine Montroy and nurse practitioner Trisha Warren make up the core staff. As well, a counsellor comes weekly from the Kingston Community Counselling Centre to help women dealing with violence and domestic abuse, a nutritionist comes for a day every other week, and once a month an asthma nurse is in attendance. Two full-time receptionists, Tracy Semeniuk and Lorie Webb answer phones, coordinate appointments and help keep records organized; no small task in such a busy centre. They are assisted by Mary Day and Emma Stott who work part-time on reception, and Ms Stott also scans documents.

Each physician has their own roster of patients, and they share weekend and holiday ‘on call’ duty, and they rotate doing Monday evening clinics.  

Nurse Meredith Prikker’s position was created in 2010 and is contract funded by a Ministry of Health (MOH) program called ‘500 Nurses’. Prikker works closely with the Rural Kingston Health Link, established to provide better coordination of care for people with complex medical/social needs. She often makes house calls, providing care for frail seniors and connecting them with resources and other agencies within the community. Prikker also teams with the nurse in Verona to provide courses to help people who are dealing with chronic pain or disease.

The new larger building will be more comfortable and efficient with separate storage space for paper records*, more examination rooms, full accessibility (entries, halls, washrooms) and a large paved parking area on the same level as the main door. A separate exit door will provide easy access for ambulance pick-ups, but not  ambulance drop-offs (as was stated in a previous article).

Moving day’s this week: the office will be closed Thursday and Friday June 22, 23, and the morning of Monday June 26.

* “Aren’t all records electronic these days?” The law requires that medical records must be kept for ten years after last contact, and Dietrich explained that in most cases, it’s inefficient to put hours into scanning piles of historical paper into an electronic system, if there’s minimal likelihood of their being needed again.