News

It is with mixed emotion that we share that our Nurse Practitioner, Layal Alaeddine will not be returning to Byron Family Medical Centre following her maternity leave.  She has made the decision to shift her focus toward independent contracting on a part-time basis.  

Layal has been an invaluable member of our BFMC team, demonstrating unwavering dedication to compassionate, high-quality patient care and quality improvement initiatives.  We will miss her greatly. 

Recruitment for a full-time Nurse Practitioner is underway.  

As we enter nesting season, some geese in the area have been displaying aggressive behavior. For your safety, please keep the following in mind:

Maintain a Safe Distance – Avoid approaching geese, especially if they are hissing, flapping their wings, or standing their ground.

Stay Calm & Move Away – If a goose approaches you aggressively, remain calm, face the goose, and slowly back away. Do not run.

Be Cautious Near Nests – Geese are highly protective of their nesting areas and may charge or chase if they feel threatened.

Report Aggressive Encounters – If you experience an aggressive encounter, please notify a team member so we can address the situation safely.  

Byron Family Medical Centre is now integrated with OCEAN eReferral Network, enabling us to securely send referrals electronically to specialist’s offices and eliminate time consuming, paper-based workflows.

OCEAN allows us to easily identify wait times and refer accordingly, eliminates the need for faxing, and provides you - the patient - with faster access to care.

You may receive emails from OCEAN eReferral Network updating you on the status of your referral.  This is legitimate.  In order to receive these alerts, you must provide your email address to your healthcare provider and provide consent to receive updates.

Please connect with your healthcare team if you have any questions.

Dr. Nancy McKeough

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nancy McKeough, who will be retiring from clinical practice in June 2023. 

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the tragic passing of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. John Sangster.  Dr. Sangster was killed in a motor vehicle accident on Friday, March 18 on his way back from lunch with a friend near Stratford.  He was 79.

Dr. Sangster was an Academic Team Physician from our centre and was the Dearness Home Medical Director in addition to his many roles in the Department of Family Medicine & LHSC.  Dr. Sangster co-founded our centre along with Drs. Cam Robinson and Keith Johnson, officially opening the clinic on October 11, 1978.  He fully retired from our centre as a beloved doctor, student educator and researcher after a full illustrious career in 2013.  He had a rare passion for improving education and continued to be active in many roles into retirement.  He will be missed by the many colleagues, staff, patients and learners whose lives and careers he touched.

Our warmest condolences go out to his family.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 2-4, and from 6-8pm at the Westview Funeral Chapel. The funeral will be held on Thursday at 1pm at Westview. Please note, the family is requesting that visitors wear masks. A private family interment will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (more specific information will be on the Westview Funeral Chapel site).

While public health measures begin to ease in the community and mask mandates are being lifted in most settings, please be aware LHSC and affiliate centres such as ours are not yet able to relax restrictions and match the community in reopening.  

Masking remains in effect.  

In addition to wearing your mask, you can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 at LHSC by:

1. Using alcohol-based hand sanitizer often (before and after touching any surface)

2. Trying to maintain physical distance of 6ft (2m)

Thank you for your continued patience and for supporting the safety of our staff and our patients.

We need a little downtime!  Effective January 24, 2022, phones will no longer be answered between 1200 noon and 1230 pm.  Please call back after this time to speak with a receptionist.  Thank you for your understanding. 

We are pleased to announce the full time replacement for Dr. McKay is Dr. Tania Rubaiyyat. She will be joining BFMC on September 1, 2020.
Dr. Rubaiyyat has provided the following introduction for patients:

“I graduated from the Western Department of Family Medicine in 2006. After graduation, I worked at the London Intercommunity Health Centre for 3 years before becoming an academic clinical associate at the St. Joseph’s Family Medical and Dental Center for the past 10 years. In addition to practicing comprehensive primary care, I have special interests in minor surgical procedures and expertise in care of the elderly and dementia care. I am looking forward to being your family physician and continuing to provide the excellent care that you have received over the years at the Byron Family Medical Centre.”

Please note that if you are patient of Dr. McKay's practice, there is no action required on your part. You will automatically be transferred to Dr. Rubaiyyat.

As previously announced, Dr. McKay has left his full-time practice after 12 years.  Dr. McKay has taken on two significant administrative roles, one within London Health Sciences Centre and one within the Department of Family Medicine at Western University. He will continue to work at our centre on a part-time basis, approximately 1 day per week.  We congratulate Dr. McKay on his new roles and thank him for his full time work at our centre. 

In addition, we would like to thank Dr. Sara Fairweather for her excellent work at providing full-time coverage on Dr. McKay's team prior to Dr. Rubaiyyat starting. 

Dr. Fairweather will be doing a few months work outside of our centre and returning to do some part-time work at our centre in November. 

Lastly, thanks go out to Dr. McKay's patients through this transition.  Please be assured that continuing to provide the highest quality care is our priority and you can always rely on our centre for your healthcare needs.

Dr. McKay's letter to his patients can by clicking here.

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.  

We are inviting more patients to come in for their appointment after an initial phone assessment when necessary.  We asked that if you come to our centre, please bring your own mask otherwise one will be supplied.  We are no longer asking that you call from the car when you arrive.  Please feel free to come in for your appointment and maintain social distances.  

About half of our staff continues to work from home. Those who are working in centre are wearing masks and eye protection as per hospital requirements.  We are still doing more visits by phone (or video) rather than seeing you in person.  Phone or video visits are called virtual visits (click here for more info about virtual visits). 

We are dedicated to serving you, our patients, as best as we can.  At no point should you feel abandon.  Please call our centre (519-472-9670) if you are a patient of our centre and have medical concerns.  Remember that we have after-hours services available as well.  You would just call the same number if you feel your medical issue can't wait until the next business day. 

Please do not show up without an appointment.  As well, we ask that if you are coming to your appointment at centre, please come alone (if possible) or have your family member wait in your vehicle.

Please continue to call your pharmacy with any medication renewals.  They send us your request, we review it and in most cases send a communication back to the pharmacy to renew that medication.  This process usually takes one business day with a max of two days.  We ask that you plan ahead so that you are not down to your last pill.  The pharmacies have asked us to tell you that they will call once the medication is ready.  Definitely, call the pharmacy if you requested a medication renewal and no one has called you back over two business days.

Thank you for understanding and stay safe. 

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.  This pandemic has changed everything we do.  Our centre was full of patients every day but now it's uncommon to see a patient in the waiting room.  Our healthcare workers are still busy  doing patient care by telephone or video.  A great proportion of our staff are working from home. Those who are working in centre are wearing masks in centre to protect you so don't be alarms.

This unexpected change is new to you as it is for us.  It's not a comfortable feeling however we are dedicated to serving our patients as best as we can.  At no point should you feel abandon.  Please call our centre (519-472-9670) if you are a patient of our centre and have medical concerns.  Remember that we have after-hours services available as well.  You would just call the same number if you feel your medical issue can't wait until the next business day. 

You could help us out by calling your pharmacy with any medication renewals.  They send us your request, we review it and in most cases send a communication back to the pharmacy to renew that medication.  This process usually takes one business day with a max of two days.  We ask that you plan ahead so that you are not down to your last pill.  The pharmacies have asked us to tell you that they will call once the medication is ready.  Definitely call the pharmacy if you requested a medication renewal and no one has called you back over two business days.

Due to the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus, we have changed our way of taking care of you to ensure your safety and ours.  As we recently received permission from the Ontario Government, we are doing more visits by phone (or video) rather than seeing you in person.  Phone or video visits are called virtual visits. 

Our centre is following strict cleaning procedures for patient appointments to keep you and our centre safe.  You will be required to ring the doorbell when you arrive and our reception team will let you in.  You may be asked to remain in your vehicle when you arrive and call the centre so our team can escort you in.  Please do not show up without an appointment.  As well, we ask that if you are coming to your appointment at centre, please come alone if possible or have your family member wait in your vehicle.

Thank you for understanding and stay safe.  (read more below under Frequently Asked Questions - click down arrow to expand) 

Middlesex-London Public Health Unit: London’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre (click)

London Health Sciences Centre Coronavirus Update for patients and families (click)

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Will I be able to get a renewal of my medication?
In most cases yes.  You may either call the centre or just call your pharmacy and ask for a medication renewal by phone.  The pharmacy processes the requests and sends us a fax with your request.  Our doctors will review the medication request and either 1) renew it or 2) call you by phone to further discuss the renewal (we may need to see you).

Please note that it may take up to 48 hours to get a call from your pharmacy.  If you do not hear from your pharmacy in 48 hours, please call your pharmacy first.  We will do our best to expedite your request whenever possible.

2. What if I already have an appointment booked to come to the centre? 
We are calling patients that have upcoming appointments and converting them to phone or video appointments where possible.  

3. Can I get tested for COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus?
We are not testing at our centre.  Please refer to the London's COVID-19 Assessment Centres (click) to get assessed.  They will determine the next steps in your care.

4. What if I have a cough/cold/fever or have travelled out of the country, can I come to the centre for an appointment?
We will assess you by phone first and invite you to the centre if required.  Please notify us if you will be coming with your spouse or family member since we would want to know how they are feeling as well.

5. Currently, which patients are you seeing at the centre?
We are only seeing patients at our centre for whom it is a higher priority to be seen.  There are many patients for whom an appointment by phone or video is fine.  Here are just a few examples of some of the patients we are seeing:

- those patients whose medication needs to have an in-person assessment before prescribing
- pregnant patients
- infants/children for immunizations
- procedures that cannot wait such as stitching a cut/laceration

6. What happens if I need medical assistance after hours?
As usual, after hours, 2 physicians are on call for the entire centre.  You would just call the same number for our clinic and listen to the instructions to get a hold of the on-call physician.  This service is for urgent issues that cannot wait to the next business day.

Many of you who are patients of the BFMC have had the opportunity to be cared for by Joan either in the capacity of a Family Practice Nurse (1983), or Nurse Practitioner (2003 – present). Prior to her time in family medicine Joan started with LHSC in 1979 as an Emergency Department Nurse. Her enthusiasm to promote health is evident not only through her daily patient care, but as well through the many patient programs she has championed over the years (seminars, groups, etc.).

She strives to implement the practices in chronic disease management (Diabetes, COPD, Asthma, Smoking Cessation, and Memory Clinic), with the goal of optimizing the health outcomes of the communities she serves. This work has been recognized through numerous professional leadership awards over the years. Her passion as an educator extends beyond patient care, to those she works with as well. She holds two faculty appointments with the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. She continues to serve as a mentor to many of us, especially her Nurse Practitioner colleagues from all corners of the city.

Many of our current Family Medicine Physicians have benefited from her education and training as well, including some of those who are currently on staff at the Centre today!

Joan – thank-you for your continued hard work and dedication to Family Medicine, we are lucky to have you!