Jeff Green | Jun 03, 2020


Dr. Amir Faisi’s is a dental surgeon who owns two clinics, he Sharbot Lake Dental Clinic and the Mulberry Clinic on Montreal Street in Kingston.

They both opened up again this week after being closed since mid-March. But it is anything but business as usual.

Long before it was announced early last week that health practitioners, including those providing dental, chiropractic, massage therapy services, could re-open, Dr. Faisi was working to ensure that when the go-ahead came, he would be ready.

Given the nature of dentistry, Dr. Faisi knew that the measures that would be required would be extreme, time consuming and expensive to implement.

“There were a lot of investments, a lot of planning,” he said in a phone interview this week, “but we have been able to meet or exceed all of the standards” set out by the government of Ontario and the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.

Infrastructure investments, at both clinics, went well beyond putting in plexiglass barriers. They include special ventilators and air purifiers, in treatment rooms, to ensure that the air circulates 10 times per hour.

There has also been difficulty, and added costs, obtaining sufficient amounts of Personal Protective Equipment for clinic staff.

“I’ll use M-95 masks as an example. When we closed the Sharbot Lake Clinic in March, we gave the masks we had on hand, and other PPE, to the family health team. The M-95 masks that we gave away cost us $26 for 20 masks when we bought them. When we went to replace them in May, they cost up to $275 for 10 masks, and we have had difficulty getting all of the sizes that we need,” he said.

The two primary concerns for Dr. Faisi, are for the safety of his patients and the safety of his staff, and ensuring both, in the context of a dental visit, requires a lot of equipment and a lot of procedures.

Everyone entering the building, staff or client, will have a temperature scan. Staff will change their clothes when they come to work and will wear gloves, two masks, and specially designed gowns. A strict disinfection protocol has been developed. Patients are being given a questionnaire over the phone before they can come in. Patients will wait outside, and will be screened again at the front door and escorted directly to the treatment rooms,

“We had virtual staff meetings and in person meetings as well as webinars, all to get ready to open,” said Dr. Faisi. 

The number of patients to be seen each day is much lower than it was before, because time for disinfection between clients has had to be worked into the daily schedule.

Now that the clinics are opening, the long backlog of patients requiring more urgent care is being addressed. 

There have been financial consequences for the two clinics from lost income and extra equipment costs bringing the clinics to a COVID-19 standard, has been substantial. Operating costs will also be increased due to the new protocols as well, and there has been no special funding for dentists or other medical service providers to help cover the short-fall.

But aside from a $20 PPE fee for each visit, the pricing at the Sharbot Lake and Mulberry Clinics has not changed.

“We are just happy to be back providing care,” Dr. Faisi said.

Back to Health Massage Therapy and Wellness Clinic

Allison Montgomery, a Registered Massage Therapist, working out of her home clinic on Milburn Road in Battersea, will be reopening on June 15 after a two-month hiatus.

It was only in mid-May when she received definitive information about what will be required to re-open. She has a six-page checklist to go through and protocols to work through, and it is taking some time to prepare. 

“There is a lot of extra paperwork that will need to be completed, we have had to remove some furniture that is no longer suitable, and obtain the right PPE. It goes on and on,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row before opening.”

A lot of her patients are in need of attention after two months. But she needs to do pre-screening, and have consent forms completed, before patients come into her clinic on Milburn Road.

“I know we will see less people in a day. They will have to arrive just before their appointment, and we will waive them in from outside, but I’m optimistic that things will go well, and hopefully we won’t be closed down again later in the summer, or in the fall.” 

She said that she is lucky that, because her clinic has been open for five years now, she has gotten to know people in the community.

“Clients have been purchasing gift certificates, knowing I had no income for over two months. And since I announced I am re-opening, there has been an influx of calls. I’m looking forward to the 15th, even though it will take a while to get used to everything.”

Sharbot Lake Chiropractic

Dr. Gian Kaillon, of Sharbot Lake Chiropractic, is not sure when she will re-open her clinic, which is co-located with the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team. The Family Health Team has instituted their own distancing protocols since mid-March.

“There are a lot of factors at play,” said Dr. Kaillon, “including wanting to make sure nothing I do has an impact on the Family Health Team.”

She also runs a clinic at the Lakeland Family Health Team in Northbrook, which only opened three weeks before the shut-down.

“Because of the rules, I can’t work in both places,” she said, “which is another factor to consider.”

Dr. Sean Rodgers, who has a clinic in Westport and has had a weekly clinic in Sharbot Lake for many years, is not coming back to Sharbot Lake at this time, but he has re-opened his clinic in Westport.

“Luckily, I am able to refer my patients to Sean at this time,” said Dr. Kaillon, “until I am able to re-open. That makes it easier.”

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