Welcome to Dr Lam's Medical Clinic Website!
Dr Lam's family practice has now transfered to the care of Dr Rob Caratun. He is located at Suite 202 323 Wilson St E. Ancaster, ON, L9G 4A8. You may call his clinic at 289 239 7642. Patients who are part of Dr Lam's family practice should contact the new clinic as soon as possible to ensure transfer of care to Dr Caratun.
He also has an email address: ancasterfamilymedicine@gmail.com. Like Dr Lam's previous email address, this should only be used for doccument transfer, and rostering with Dr Caratun's practice.
This website will remain functional for a few months to help redirect anyone to the new clinic.
Dear Patients,
I have had the honor of being your family doctor, some of you for the past 9 years. It is bittersweet to leave the Ancaster region and travel to a new location where life carries me. I hope to have provided the best medical care and bedside manner possible, and believe you will find similar care and attention with Dr Caratun, or whichever family doctor you chose to continue under. I wish you all the best of health and fortune!
Yours with High Esteem,
Dr David Hung Kwan Lam
Q: How do ensure I don't lose my place?
A: All patients currently rostered with Dr Lam will be automatically transferred to Dr. Caratun's roster. Please reach out to Dr Caratun's office to confirm your place at 289 239 7642.
Q: When will I get to meet Dr Caratun?
A: Once you have called Dr Caratun and signed a roster form (as you had done with Dr Lam many years ago), you may book appointments with him as you normally would. Bear in mind Dr Caratun has a different clinic schedule to Dr Lam, which may take some getting used to.
Q: Where will the new clinic be?
A: Dr Caratun is at Suite 202, 323 Wilson St E, Ancaster, ON L9G 4A8. This in the heart of Ancaster Village, near where several other doctors of the FHO currently practice. This is on the second floor of the building, where he shares his office with another of the doctors of the FHO.
Q: Will the after hours service be the same?
A: Yes, the after hours service will continue to run as previous. The on-call number remains the same, 905 521 4165. As usual use this only if you are unable to reach Dr Caratun, and there is an urgent medical issue not quite severe enough for the hospital.
Q: Should I let my specialists know?
A: Yes, if you are seeing specialist doctors or attend hospital appointments, you will need to let them known of the change of your family doctor to Dr Caratun. The fax number they corrospond with is still the same thankfully, so even if they are slow to change their information, your clinic notes should still reach Dr Caratun.
Q: I'm on a wait list for a specialist appointment. Will I still get it?
A: Yes, if you are waiting for a specialist appointment, the specialist's office should still contact you for that appointment.
Q: Will Amanda be working with Dr Caratun?
A: Our esteemed staff Amanda will be working with Dr Caratun. She is familiar with my patients, and is an outstanding staff member. She will remain to guide everyone through this process.
ON-CALL SCHEDULE
Oncall Service
The doctor is part of a group of 12 doctors who have agreed to take turns staying late on evenings and weekends to provide urgent service to rostered patients of all 12 doctors. Only urgent issues are addressed, routine issues will be differed back to the family doctor at a later date. The On-call service is important, as a copy of the consultation will be sent back to the patient's family doctor for record keeping. Please call (905 521 4165) to get in contact with the out of hours team.
On-call is for urgent medical situations only. If your issue can wait until the next clinic day for your family doctor please do so.
Prescriptions and referrals are not appropriate for on-call.
The on-call doctor will likely speak with you first to determine if the issue can be solved over the phone or if it needs an in-person assessment.
The on-call doctor does not have access to your full medical record. Be sure to have your healthcard handy when calling.
Announcements
The TELUS APP - Temporarily Disabled
Our medical records program has an associated App which centralizes messages, appointment booking, and notifications from the clinic.
For existing patients, when you first open the APP be sure to chose "Sign Up" to create your login details. You have a choice of Google ID, Apple ID, or a simple email + Password. Once this is done, it will ask for your DOB, Healthcard number, full name to match your profile in our system. Remember which login method you choose when you sign up (Google/Apple/Email) as you must use those same login details each time.
Click here to be redirected to the instructions page of Telus.
If you continue to have any issues, you can contact chrconnectsupport@telus.com for help. TELUS is also working on a chatbot who can assist too.
Important Points
If your healthcard is expired, then your healthcare is not covered. Please keep your demographics up to date with us. This includes your address, contact number, and healthcard details. Your healthcard is particularly important as it covers all medical care with OHIP. Appointments will incur a fee of $70 per visit, and telephone assessments may also incur fees. We allow a 1 week grace period, if you can provide your updated healthcard information within 1 week of paying for a visit, we will reimburse your fee.
For same day appointments, please call in the morning when slots are available. Calls that come in in the afternoon are unlikely to have an open slot to use the same day. Online booking is generally for routine issues. If you have an urgent problem, call our office directly for advice.
Management of medication in the community is your responsibility. For regular medication, please request refills/renewals at least 2 weeks ahead of running out. "Poor Planning does not constitute an emergency" and ALL renewal requests are addressed on Thursday/Fridays.
Reviewing results. If you have had a test done, the doctor will call you to discuss any urgent issues. If they are normal, the doctor usually does not call (No News is Good News).
Scans, tests, and labs are the responsibility of the doctor who ordered them. You may have had an investigation done by a specialist. They will know the original reason and context in which the investigation was ordered, and what action is required next. As such they should be the ones to follow up with you. While your family doctor may receive a copy, he may not be the correct individual to inform you about the result or next steps.
Everything medical should be completed in reasonable time. However certain situations will take priority over others. Some things can wait for a few days to a week to see the doctor, and other things are so important that it should go to the hospital immediately. Consider the following broad guidance when determining what type of issue you have.
ROUTINE: These are issues which can stand being assessed in the next few days or at worse the following week. Medication adjustments, review of bloodwork, form filling. Low level symptoms that have been present for a while, or come and go over this time. We would advise avoiding the use of the On-Call for these.
URGENT: These are issues which are more concerning in their pattern or their severity. New infections symptoms, accidents and injuries, and similar. Each clinic day has a specific number of allotted urgent same day slots. Please call early in the day in order to secure such a spot. Calls later in the day may have to be addressed the following day.
EMERGENCY: These issues need assessment immediately with equipment often held only in hospitals. This includes sudden constant chest pain, significant shortness of breath (unable to speak full sentences), Stroke symptoms (face drooping, arms weak, speech slurred), and injuries where significant fratures may be suspected.
When in doubt, consider giving us a call, and tell us "I'm not sure what to do?" The reception or doctor will guide you on what to do next.
There are several preventitive care items that are done regularly for both men and women. These would be important to keep track of and reach out to Dr Lam's clinic when you draw close to the time.
Colon screening (M/F 50-80): stool blood testing (FIT test) every 2 years or colonoscopy every 5-10 years
Mammogram Screening (F 50-75): every 2 years (or 40+ by request)
Cervical screening (PAP), (F25-70): every 5 years
Bone Mineral Density (optional) (M65+, F50+): every 1-5 years depending on results
If you are uncertain if you qualify for these items, give us a call to discuss!
Doctors operate in defined area of expertise. While there are many things that the doctor can do, there are a number of things that we cannot do, either due to lack of training or outside our scope of protected practice. The following are some examples of things that we may not be able to help you with.
Dental problems: Naturally you should see a dentist for anything tooth related. Dentists should be able to write their own prescriptions and provide you with abx if they deem it necessary.
Emotional Support Animal Letters: Animals with certified training have the legal designation of 'Service Animal', and as such are legally allowed into locations where other animals are not. While we understand that our pets provide us emotional support and are a valid form of relaxation and therapy .This does not automatically made them safe animals. Service animals are trained not to react to provocation, not to defecate or urinate unless at designated locations (such as at home), and not to interact with other people or animals while on active duty. In declaring an animal 'safe' this also means shouldering any legal responsibility involved in training, maintaining, and defending an animal should they cause damage, injury, or death. Ultimately these responsibilities lie with the animal's owner and trainer, and not the doctor.
Power of Attorney and Lack of Capacity: All adults 18+ are deemed to have the mental capacity by default. Sometimes in certain specific medical situation that capacity might be affected, leaving the doctor to make a decision in the patient's best interest for that situation. However as we age or in some diseases this mental capacity can be eroded over time affecting overall function and decision making. In order to create a lasting power of attorney you would need to be assessed by an independent capacity assessor who is trained to do these assessments.