A virtual-only gender-affirming clinic says it’s facing financial difficulties after the Ontario government capped the amount health-care providers can charge for virtual care.
The agreement between the Ontario Medical Association and the provincial government came into effect on Dec. 1 . For patients who haven’t been seen in person, doctors can now only bill $20 for a video visit and $15 for a telephone visit. Previously, health-care providers could charge the Ministry of Health between $67 to $80 for such visits.
Connect-Clinic is a Toronto-based virtual-only provider and says it will close if other funding is not found.
"Even prior to the pandemic, we've been seeing all of our patients across the province, through consultations by video link," Dr. Kate Greenaway, founder and lead physician at Connect-Clinic, told CTV's Your Morning on Friday. "But now we actually can't afford to run our clinic."
CTV's Your Morning reached out to the provincial Ministry of Health for comment on the change.
"Virtual care is intended to compliment in-person care, not replace it and our patient-first approach to the new virtual care framework ensures Ontarians will continue to have access to convenient and appropriate care,” the ministry said in a statement.
Connect Clinic specializes in services for trans and gender-diverse people, offering medical referrals for surgeries, hormone therapy and general health care. It is the only virtual clinic in Ontario offering this type of care.
"If we're unable to secure other funding outside of the ministry billing, then we won't be able to continue… the clinic will close," Greenaway said. "Currently, we're already operating at a much lower capacity only seeing urgent issues and prescription renewals because we can't afford to do routine care."
Greenaway said there are about 1,500 active patients and 2,000 others on the waitlist being impacted by the change. The virtual-only format, Greenaway said, offers access to people in rural and remote areas.
"A number of clinics across the province do gender-affirming care in person, but they tend to be in urban centers," Greenaway said. "So my patients who are in more rural settings who can't travel to get to these clinics really don't have any access in their own community."
Greenaway said accessing gender-affirming care is also safer virtually.
"They don't have to present their OHIP card at their health-care facility that might not use the right name or pronouns," Greenaway said. "There can be lots of experiences of transphobia within the health-care system. So ours helps people avoid that. They can connect directly with a provider that they know is culturally competent to provide care."
The change in Ontario comes just as Nova Scotia is expanding its Virtual Care program, offering more services outside of the Monday-to-Friday period.
Many people in N.S. are turning to virtual care as the province deals with strained hospitals and walk-ins, with more than 125,000 people without a doctor or nurse practitioner.
Virtual Care NS provides free, temporary access to health care on the Need a Family Practice Registry, a wait list for people without a doctor, the press release reads. However, those treating patients virtually are drawn from the same pool as those working in-person.
Currently, the system only offers same-day appointments and is being used as a temporary solution.
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