Well Baby Care Clinic

A Health Home for infants without a primary care provider

The Well Baby Care Clinic was born as a collaboration of Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Ontario Health Team (FLA OHT) partners - Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC), South East Health Unit (formerly KFL&A Public Health) and Queen’s University School of Nursing and Department of Pediatrics. 

This newborn and early childhood clinic was developed to provide well-baby health care to infants who do not have a primary care provider. It is estimated that 20 babies a month are born in the Kingston area who are not attached to a primary care provider, making them vulnerable to not achieving their best health. 

Transition to a new site

The clinic has been running out of the South East Health Unit. Midtown Kingston Health Home is now taking the lead in offering this valuable service in the community!  As of January 2025, the Well Baby Care Clinic is being run by Midtown Kingston Health Home site, with the support from Queens's University:

• LOCATION: Midtown Kingston Health Home
  • 791 Princess St., Suite 201 Kingston ON K7L 1E9 
• HOURS:
  • Tuesdays from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
  • Wednesdays from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon

• TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
  • SCAN the QR code, or 
  •  CLICK to BOOK an appointment
•  CALL 613-484-7732 to cancel or reschedule.

If a baby does not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner

The Well Baby Care Clinic will provide this care, as needed until a primary care provider is found. To find a primary care provider:

• CALL 811 to ask for a child to be registered with Health Care Connect
• LEARN MORE about Health Care Connect

Focus of the clinic

• provide wellness care
• monitor growth and development
• conduct milestone screening
• deliver immunizations critical to early childhood health
• refer to a pediatrician or other specialists if a baby needs specialized care

The Well Baby Care Clinic is staffed by three nurse practitioners, as well as nurses from Midtown Kingston Health Home. The initiative benefits the larger health-care system by providing essential care to infants and young children, and potentially reducing visits to the Children's Outpatient Clinic at Hotel Dieu Hospital and to Emergency Departments.

This clinic is also providing inter-professional educational experiences for undergraduate nursing, nurse practitioner and medical students, and post-graduate medical trainees in family medicine and pediatrics.

NEED CARE between visits?

• Call Health811 by dialing 8-1-1
• To be seen in person, go to Children’s Outpatient Clinic (COPC), Hotel Dieu Hospital Urgent Care, or
• Visit a walk-in clinic
• For more information on how to access care, visit this webpage: FLA OHT Community Resources

QUESTIONS between visits?

• Speak with a public health nurse at our South East Health Unit by phone 613-549-1154 or email parenting@kflaph.ca

 

Program Evaluation Report

This report on the Well Baby Care Clinic highlights its effectiveness as an alternative to acute care settings like the Children's Outpatient Clinic, walk-in clinics, and emergency departments. 

The clinic welcomed 151 unique clients and recorded 355 visits from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. The report shows high patient satisfaction regarding access, quality of care, and communication. Findings also show that the clinic successfully connects infants to primary care providers, administers vaccines, and refers patients to specialized services.

READ the full report.

 

What the FLA OHT partners are saying: 

Queen's School of Nursing
“Newborns and young children are extremely vulnerable and ongoing health care is essential for good health outcomes. We are very pleased to offer this service to babies and young children in our region and provide our learners with exceptional inter-professional and team-based opportunities to advance their knowledge,” says Dr. Roger Pilon, Associate Professor, School of Nursing and licensed Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner who is helping lead this initiative. 

Kingston Community Health Centres
“It is important to Kingston Community Health Centre (KCHC) to work with our community partners to ensure the health of everyone in our communities. This clinic is vital to the health and well-being of babies so they get a healthy start in their growth and development,” says Dr. Rupa Patel, Family Physician, KCHC and Assistant Professor, Queen’s Department of Family Medicine. For the past eight months, Dr. Patel and the Weller Clinic team have been providing well baby care through KCHC for infants without a primary care provider and identified this community health care need and brought the partners together to help design the clinic.

South East Health Unit (formerly KFL&A Public Health)
“We are thrilled to partner with KCHC and Queen’s School of Nursing to provide much-needed space and knowledgeable health-care professionals to make a real difference in the lives of families in our community who may not have access to primary health care providers,” says Dr. Piotr Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health, KFL&A Public Health.