Closing the Gap Healthcare

I am having the same difficulties trying to get anyone to call me back to book an appointment. I have called multiple numbers, in which some are even invalid or out of date. I have been given wrong extensions as well. I had my first appointment on Friday which went without out a hitch. But then the nurses tell you to call asap to make the next available appointment but then no response. FROM ANYONE! I am a new patient who needs care every two to three days, and need my bandages checked and changed because of the extent of my surgery. This is not appropriate aftercare for post surgery patient. This has been stressful and a disappointment.

I want to say that the nursing care I have received since having surgery about 2 months ago and being referred to the Mississauga clinic has been excellent. However, the administrative side of this company is unprofessional and dangerous and should absolutely not be allowed to coordinate care for vulnerable people. They don’t deserve the amazing nurses that work for them.

I need to attend wound care every other day; when you call to make an appointment, nobody answers the phone; even if you choose to wait on hold, eventually you’re forced to leave a message anyway. I have never, in more than a month of 4x a week appointments, had someone actually pick up the phone so I can make an appointment - not once. Instead, you wait for someone to call you, and hope it’s before the time when you need an appointment in the next 24 to 48 hours, which is not guaranteed; I’ve missed three necessary appointments because I couldn’t get ahold of someone to book them. If you manage to get a call back, they may tell you the wrong appointment time, meaning that you miss your appointment again.

The easiest way I know of to actually get a callback is to have your nurse email the company to ask that they call you for your appointment booking. This failed me this week too; my appointment was on Sunday, when my nurse asked the admin side to contact me for booking this week’s appointments; after not getting a call yesterday, I called and left a message; I called and left a message today, the day I needed an appointment; and finally I sent a message through their website. I have heard nothing for over 48 hours at this point.

So that leaves me - a patient with wounds bad enough that they require professional dressing every other day, and with limited mobility - with nothing. Not even the supplies I need to do the dressing on my own. If I can’t get an appointment, what exactly am I supposed to do? What can anyone do when they’re at the mercy of a completely ineffective admin team that is actively blocking access to the care they’re being paid to provide? I know our health system is under funded, but this cannot be a sustainable cost cutting measure.

Patty Gilbert from the Barrie office was helping my father get funding for a new wheelchair. We were told by her that he was approved for 75% funding and she would get funding to get the remainder taken care of. The approval was nearly a year ago and is set to expire this month. My father's wheelchair has electrical issues and he was recently stranded in a snow storm because it stopped working for nearly 2 hours. He is a disabled man and cannot walk more than 5 steps without assistance. We have both placed multiple calls to Patty now that have gone unanswered for weeks. She cannot even acknowledge if the funding is still available. This is beyond sickening treatment and I expect to be contacted for a follow-up from someone with more authority than this woman has.

My partner went to the clinic for almost six months of wound care. It was easy to make appointments, and the care he received was very good.

Leaving this review solely because of Pam Munro-Peck, what an amazing nurse and helpful individual! She's been nothing short of amazing to my father (Pavle Alic) with his leg issue. I would recommend her to anyone looking for care and extreme attention to detail.