Virtual urgent care helping more patients get same-day appointments at Northside Urgent Treatment Centre

Northside General Hospital in North Sydney runs a busy urgent treatment centre six days a week, with appointments often fully booked for the day by mid-morning.  

But a simple update to the centre’s intake line — highlighting virtual urgent care as another care option — is helping more patients access appointments each day.    

These same-day appointments are provided online by an emergency-trained physician or nurse practitioner. “We want to help people understand who is on the other end of their virtual appointment,” said Duane Jessome, a registered nurse and health services manager at Northside General Hospital. He believes providing more education and awareness about who virtual providers are will help people feel more comfortable with the virtual care option.   

And this new approach is paying off. 

Over a month last spring, virtual urgent care appointments at the centre went from one appointment in April to 60 appointments in May. Now, staff are consistently seeing patients choose virtual appointments when appropriate.

Virtual urgent care gives patients another care option and helps reduce wait times for urgent, but non-life-threatening concerns such as coughs, colds, sore throats, urinary tract infections, and mild aches and pains.

Patients are assessed by the centre’s triage nurse and if their health matter is appropriate for virtual urgent care, the patient is asked if they would like to see a virtual provider. If they consent, they go into a room with an iPad, and a nurse connects them with an online care provider. 

The nurse on site, who sees the patient in person, collaborates with the virtual provider and can provide vitals and photos of the injured/infected area, if necessary. 

Joanne Sanford is director of policy and planning for the Nova Scotia Health virtual urgent and emergency care programs. She said in most cases, patients who present at emergency departments with urgent, but non-life-threatening health issues take the longest to be seen. Some of those patients could be treated through virtual urgent care instead. 

“Having virtual urgent care gives the provider an opportunity to see patients who are more critically ill or need hands-on care and not feel overwhelmed by patients sitting in the waiting room with less urgent needs. It also allows patients to be seen a little bit more quickly,” said Sanford.  

Virtual providers can order tests like bloodwork or x-rays, and can make referrals and order prescriptions (excluding controlled substances). 

She recognizes using technology may make some people hesitant to use virtual urgent care but highlights the hands-on support that on-site staff provide.  

“For some people who aren’t tech savvy, virtual urgent care can feel intimidating. But staff are right there to guide them with at-the-elbow support, as much or as little as they need.”

Most patients who access virtual urgent care are 60 or older. Patients have the choice to see the provider alone or ask for the on-site nurse to be present — a model that highlights strong collaboration between on-site and virtual teams.

Since virtual urgent care launched in Nova Scotia in 2023, it has expanded to various emergency departments, collaborative emergency centres, and urgent treatment centres across the province, giving Nova Scotians more ways to get timely care.

And at Northside General, patients are clearly becoming comfortable with the virtual urgent care option, as five per cent of users in the past few months are return patients.  

Jessome and Sanford agree some of the biggest wins in increasing virtual urgent care use has been seeing patients leave happy after an appointment without a long wait time and having staff see the positive impact on patients. 

“We want to get as many people seen in a day as possible,” Jessome said. “And by having another pathway to care through virtual urgent care, we’re able to do that.”

Virtual urgent care is offered at many locations across Nova Scotia. Visit virtual urgent care to check availability and hours of operation in your area. 

Photo of Rhonda Hudson, a registered nurse at Northside Urgent Treatment Centre.