Kensington Medical Clinic

The best of the best. This clinic has a long reputation of providing excellent care.I won’t ever go to any other walk in clinic. They’ve been my go too since I was a child my parents would always take me here. And even as an adult they continue to look after me when I’m in distress! Staff are always friendly and kind they always send out my referrals quickly! Dr. Baldeli thank you for always looking out for me.

I had an appointment with their neurologist. I waited three months for the appintment. They told me they would email me two days beforehand to remind me of the appointment so I decided to not put a reminder in my calendar. Appintment day arrives, turns out all their emails were delivered to my spam folder. I admit it was my bad to not a reminder myself. But what kind of clinic gets their email marked as spam? Worse yet, what kind of clinic doesn't take simple steps to fix this problem? It's painful to live amongst boomers.

TL;DR very recognizable mono symptoms were dismissed and lack of communication would have endangered me and people around me had bloodwork clinic not sent my results to me directly Booked a walk-in appointment due to mono symptoms. Was told over phone that my appointment would start over phone to assess whether it was safe for me to be seen in-person, then I could come in if it seemed unlikely that I had Covid. Fair enough, mono symptoms have some overlap with Covid symptoms. I was left waiting in the sleet for over an hour after my appointment time (annoying, but appointments get delayed for emergencies so I understand), only to be told that, despite having a negative Covid test, I would not be seen in-person. Over the phone, the doctor was dismissive of my non-Covid-like symptoms and did not believe I was likely to have mono. I explained my most concerning symptom, acute internal pain on the left side of my body (consistent with mono-related spleen inflammation), and was told that it was probably just muscle aches. The duration of my symptoms (my extreme fatigue had lasted for almost two weeks by that point) was also dismissed. After much negotiation, I managed to get the doctor to agree to send me for bloodwork. I was sent to a clinic that did not accept walk-ins. By then, I was in so much pain and so frustrated that I broke down a bit. The nurse at that clinic very kindly helped me to find another bloodwork clinic in Vancouver that could take me and put me on a bus. At the next clinic, I noticed that the doctor from Kensington had requested I be tested for a thyroid condition. At no point during the phone call did he mention any concerns about thyroid function to me. After the bloodwork was complete, I was told to make another appointment with the same doctor to discuss the results. The earliest appointment was several weeks later. Fortunately, the second bloodwork clinic also sent me my results directly, which, lo and behold, showed I had contracted mononucleosis. Had the bloodwork clinic not done so, I would not have found out for several weeks. In addition, I would not have known that the pain I was experiencing, was, in fact, caused by a swollen spleen. The doctor's dismissal of my concerns and the long delay in discussing test results was not only irritating, but was irresponsible and outright dangerous to me and the people I am in contact with. I had a highly transmissible and potentially serious disease with symptoms that should have been easily recognizable and indicated an immediate danger to my health. I understand the reasons for the delay in my initial appointment and even for being refused in-person after being told that I would likely be admitted, but the dismissal of serious symptoms, failure to communicate the doctor's concerns (if he had mentioned the thyroid thing, I could have explained my medical history in that respect), and failure to effectively communicate test results were inexcusable. I don't know how much of my experience was due to the clinic's practices and how much came down to the specific doctor I spoke to, but these issues need to be resolved for effective patient care. I don't like to think about what may have happened if the bloodwork lab hadn't contacted me, because I would not have been properly managing my symptoms if I had followed this clinic's advice, and I also would not have taken proper precautions to protect the people I'm in contact with. I've been sick for over two months now, so I would have had revisited a doctor by this point for what should have been a simple case.

*Edited: (In response to the owner’s reply.) Yes, it is unfortunate that the Dr. And I couldn’t reach each other and was BOTH inconvenienced because of a small missing instruction from the clinic (the “middle-man”) that Dr.s working remotely will only be calling from blocked/No-ID numbers on the website. Also, at the time of booking the phone appointment, had no way of knowing if the Dr. will be calling from Clinic or Remotely? My review was also written and posted BEFORE the call came from the clinic Admin/Manager to resolve the situation. I’m glad they did decide to refund me the booking fee, but this situation could have well been avoided if instructions were given to allow all calls to come through, especially when they know the number I have on file is a cellphone number. The negative experiences experienced still stands. I held off on updating my review till my new phone appointment was done. They got another Dr. working in-clinic to call from the clinic phone, where I can finally discuss my lab results with, and showed they listened to their patients (or “clients”). The clinic won’t contact you to discuss any results unless results show up abnormal or needing more follow-up, so to be able to finally talk with a Dr. to know what’s going on with my health is definitely important. ****Below is original post**** Booked a phone appointment as instructed by their Admin to discuss my lab results. Nowhere on their booking website or in their confirmation emails did they put a Warning/Note/Instruction that we will need to be able to receive No-Caller-ID or blocked numbers, especially since I only have a cellphone and it is the device’s default setting to block no-caller-ID calls. So Dr. Called me twice which only showed up after the call was unanswered and went to voicemail. Now the Dr. thinks I’m some flaky no-show, which isn’t true, and I had to pay $30 out-of-pocket for something that was not explained/noted prior to my phone appointment to be able to book another appointment to discuss my results. This seems all too sneaky like some easy money-grab since if patient’s wellbeing is their priority, shouldn’t successful communication between Dr. and Patient be a thing? Nowhere on their website is this noted and they only tell you you’ll need to be able to receive the No-ID calls after you’ve already missed your appointment time when you bring this up directly to them via email communication, as trying to get a hold of someone on the phone during busy clinic hours is near impossible. I’ve tried calling the clinic directly to rectify this more than once after missing the first Dr.s call, with no one to get a hold of on the line, only slow, email exchanges were able to communicate the problem but at the end it took way too long and now I had to pay $30 out-of-pocket for something that wasn’t my fault to begin with? I usually don’t like to rant or write negative reviews, but them calling me from the clinic phone number to book a phone appointment for discussing results, but not have any note that my phone will need to receive No-ID or blocked calls in order for the Dr to reach me successfully, really makes me feel like they enjoy making money off of people’s confusion.

This clinic used to be absolutely wonderful as the system was very easy to book a walk in and the doctors were only up to 15 minutes late for appointments. Now, the doctors are 45+ minutes late for walk in appointments. If you ask for an update on your appointment while waiting nearly an hour at the clinic, one of the ladies at the front desk is so rude to your request.

Booked an appointment online. Arrived at the clinic early, only to be told i didnt have an appointment. The clinic had 3 people in the waiting room when I arrived that where called up within 2 min. I was then called up to the counter where the receptionist told me I had no appointment, that the system glitched. How is that my fault or problem. The clinic was not busy and they refused to see me. What a terrible experience. I warn those who book times to see doctors here, you might have set your schedule around it for nothing. What waste.

Sometimes you really need help right away so walk-in clinics are helpful. I really needed a doctor to look at my child in person so I booked an in-person walk-in appointment at this clinic. The front desk called me later and told me that the appointment would be on the phone first, then the doctor will decide if he wants to see the patient. So I picked up my child from the daycare early and dragged him to outside the clinic (NOT EASY), only was told by the doctor that he was informed it was only a phone appointment. And if I need a doctor to look at my child, I have to make another appointment on a different date. I was right there outside of the clinic with my child, with a valid IN-PERSON appointment, and the doctor still wouldn’t see my child no matter what. That’s really upsetting.

Came in today for an appointment for the first time, simple booking system, but be sure to hop on 7am to book a spot (same day). once a spot is secured, things went very smoothly, checked in, waited a few minutes, and then a doctor will be shortly. I had Dr Wardill and she was absolutely wonderful. As a patient who came close to the end of her shift, I imagine she has been going strong since early morning, yet still gave amazing advice. Very thoughtful, understood our problems, and provided deeper insight on how we can approach our problems. 5 stars. Many of these reviews below complain about wait times or difficult staff, but if you follow the procedures provided, the experience goes very smoothly. Especially during difficult Covid times, there is a reason why capacity is limited and reservations are encouraged. Be on time, and no one's time will be wasted.