Do you have a concern you would like us to address?
The Niagara North Family Health Team strives to provide the highest quality of healthcare. If you have a concern about the quality of care or any of the services provided by the Niagara North Family Health team, please let us know.
Why file a complaint or a comment?
It is important that we are made aware of your concerns so that we can make changes or improvements in the way that we provide health care services to all patients.
Submitting a Comment
Your input is important – your comments help us to improve our programs and services. As well as learning from your complaints, we are also interested in other ideas you may have on how we might do things better.
You can make a comment by telephoning or writing to any member of our staff, or you can also mail, fax or email comments to the person at the appropriate site listed below. All comments will be acknowledged. We will use comments to help improve our processes and services.
How to Make a Complaint
- Discuss your concerns with the appropriate member(s) of your health care team. These professionals involved in your care might be able to resolve the issue or they may refer you to another more appropriate member of the team.
- If talking to the appropriate team member does not satisfy your concerns, you may choose to put your complaint in writing by:
- Completing our online Patient Complaint Form for the appropriate NNFHT site. This form is list under each contact person or in any of our offices.
- Submitting a letter: Please state your name, contact information, details of your complaint, the date of the incident, which clinic, which team members were involved, what you did to resolve the issue, the outcome you seek and whether the matter is urgent.
Please note, anonymous complaints will be disregarded.
Complaint forms/ letters can be sent to:
Niagara North Family Health Team– Fourth Avenue Site (Niagara Family Health Centre) for Physicians and Staff
Christine Hay, Operations Manager
1338 Fourth Avenue
St. Catharines, ON L2S 0G1
Patient Complaint Form – Fourth Avenue Site
Niagara North Family Health Team – Allied Health Professional Staff (Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Dietitians, Mental Health Counselors, Foot/Wound Care, Diabetes Care Team or Psychiatry – across all sites)
Mary Keith, Executive Director
7-145 Carlton Street
St. Catharines, ON L2R 1R5
Fax 905.688.0047
Patient Complaint Form – Allied Health Staff
Niagara North Family Health Team – St. Catharines Sites (Carlton, Glenridge, Pelham & Upstairs Fourth Ave.) for Physicians and Staff
Stephen Szeplaki, Operations Manager
7-145 Carlton Street
St. Catharines, ON L2R 1R5
Patient Complaint Form-St.Catharines Sites
Niagara North Family Health Team – Virgil Site for Physicians and Staff
Sheryl Lepp, Clinic Manager
1882 Niagara Stone Road, PO Box 10
Virgil, ON L0S 1J0
Fax 905.468.7960
Patient Complaint Form – Virgil Site
Niagara North Family Health Team – NOTL Site for Physicians and Staff
Danielle Perrotta, FHN Supervisor
101 Garrison Village Drive
Niagara on the Lake, ON L0S 1J0
Fax 905.468.7960
Patient Complaint Form – NOTL Site
- Complaints will be reviewed and investigated. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint.
All medical information is confidential. If the complaint investigation requires a review of your medical information, we will ask you for written consent. Patient’s complaints and complaint responses are not part of your medical record nor will any complaint impact your future care. Your privacy will be respected. Any reporting to our Board of Directors or to the Ministry of Health will be done in a way that maintains your privacy and confidentiality.
The Executive Director, Clinic/ Operations Manager, FHN Supervisor or, the Lead Physician will answer all complaints within 30 days of receiving the complaint.
In order to address concerns, the Executive Director, Clinic/ Operations Manager, FHN Supervisor may review the complaint with the appropriate health care team member and ask him/ her to provide input to a written response. The Executive Director, Clinic/ Operations Manager, FHN Supervisor may also arrange to meet with you regarding your complaint.
What are the possible outcomes of a complaint?
When all information is reviewed, Niagara North Family Health Team may decide to do one of the following:
- Take no further action if the complaint does not warrant it.
- Take further action internally, i.e., revising policies and procedures or providing additional training or education.
- Refer the concern to an outside agency.
- Decide not to investigate because the complaint is made in bad faith or is an abuse of process.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS COMMENT/COMPLAINT PROCESS PLEASE CONTACT:
Mary Keith, Executive Director
7-145 Carlton Street
St. Catharines, ON L2R 1R5
gcfht@niagaranorthfht.ca