Mississauga News published an article on Jan 27, 2025
By News Room
Keep children out of hospitals.
That’s the goal of a Mississauga pediatric clinic led by nurse practitioners.
“There are options other than going to emerge,” said Sharon St. Germain, operations manager at Summerville Family Health Team, which partnered with the Mississauga Ontario Health Team to open the Mississauga Pediatric Care Clinic back in September 2023.
“We’re trying to alleviate the pressures, especially this time of the year, of the emergency department of all hospitals in the Mississauga and Peel area.”
Though the clinic has seen more than 2,700 patients since it opened, it says awareness of the local resource is low, and it wants to change that.
St. Germain said local data has shown a large proportion of emergency department demands were for children, particularly during peak periods of respiratory illness.
“There are issues where patients do not have a family physician or their family physician is in a solo practice and doesn’t have after-hours care,” she said. “So most of them are going to emerge when they have children that are sick, and instead they could be utilizing the pediatric care clinic.”
The government-funded clinic, located at 101 Queensway West, offers same day or next day appointments for those six months to 17 years old for acute care issues such as fever, cough, sore throat, earaches, rashes, conjunctivitis, urinary tract infection, vomiting and diarrhea.
The clinic, which is free of charge with no health card needed, is open Monday to Saturday with evening service twice weekly.
“We’re normally offering between 16 to 23 appointments a day,” St. Germain said. “You can be seen at our clinic by a very skilled nurse practitioner, instead of waiting in emerge for five to 10 hours.”
St. Germain said about 35 per cent of the patients who use the clinic don’t have a family doctor, noting the clinic is able to match those looking for one with physicians in the area who are welcoming new patients.
With RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) peaking now, the clinic also offers the RSV immunization Beyfortus.
The clinic, however, doesn’t offer walk-ins and isn’t intended for chronic case issues or those seeking annual physical examinations.
Jessica Tang, one of the clinic’s four nurse practitioners, said she and her team can order labs and diagnostic imaging and prescribe medications and treatments.
She said the clinic offers 20-minute appointments with no wait time as there’s no double booking. “We get to spend that full 20 minutes really understanding the story of each patient and where they’re coming from, what their needs are and how we would best treat their concerns.”
- Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Tuesdays: 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Wednesdays: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursdays: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sundays: closed
Appointments to the clinic can be made by calling 905-272-9900 ext. 240 or visiting the clinic webpage.