During these challenging times for all of us, we appreciate your patience and understanding as the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way we practice optometry.
We have been working diligently to exceed Public Health Ontario’s requirements to create a safe environment for both our staff and patients.
PPE for staff and doctors including face shields, gloves, masks & eye protection
Hand sanitization stations
Protective barriers
Staff members will be wearing personal ionic air purifiers
Central heating and air conditioning filtration system utilizing state of the art technology
Room UV filtration units
Rearrangement of office furniture and equipment
Limiting the number of people in the office at any one time
Arranging all office visits by appointment only
Extended office hours and appointment times to accommodate new safety measures
Automatic door openers to minimize touch and control patient flow
Exam room, equipment, surfaces, and door handle sanitization after every patient
Appropriate sanitization of all optical frames for your safety
Enhanced protective measures added to examination equipment
Delivery and curbside pickup of eyewear, contact lenses and products
Never in our history have we had such a significant disruption and challenge to our schedule. As a result, we have implemented new procedures for appointments. As part of our first phase of re-opening for routine care, we will be prioritizing patients that were booked during the shutdown period. What this may mean is that if you had an exam scheduled from March 17 on, you might be seeing a different doctor in our office than your original provider. This is the approach we are adopting to get caught up with the massive backlog before us. Rest assured, your experience will not be compromised in any way. Dr. Papadakis, Dr. Stevens, and Dr. Bandali have been systematically reviewing all the cancelled appointments and arranging them by urgency, need, and risk by age group and medical conditions. If your appointment was cancelled during our closure, or you have an upcoming appointment, you will receive a call or an email from our office to discuss a change in time or to reschedule to a later date.
Before your appointment, we will email or text you a COVID-19 screening questionnaire. You will also be required to fill out an intake form, which is how the doctors will be commencing the examination. This will allow a more streamlined examination whereby we will know what concerns you are having ahead of time. We can complete necessary testing appropriately along with booking your optical needs appointment at the same time. At the time of arrival, additional screening questions will be asked, and you will remain in your vehicle until you receive a text to enter, at which point your temperature will be taken, and we will ask you to sanitize your hands. Masks will be mandatory to enter the clinic. Please understand that due to the many measures needed to be taken to ensure everybody’s safety, punctuality will be essential moving forward. We ask that you arrive early and text us from the parking lot and wait for further instructions.
Entry to the clinic will be limited to those patients with appointments only. All optical visits will also now require an appointment. The clinic will have a separate, distinct entrance and a separate exit to allow one-way flow of patients for safety.
Finch Avenue Optometry is committed to delivering outstanding eye care in both services and products while remaining at the technological forefront. During the shutdown, we have continued with this commitment by investing in advanced diagnostic and treatment tools to help us serve you both in person and virtually.
To protect both doctor and patient, we strongly recommend that all patients between the ages of 5-19 have a digital retinal scan for enhanced visualization of the back of the eye and to reduce the close doctor-patient distance of traditional exams.
For seniors (65 and over), and those patients with certain medical eye conditions, obtaining a digital retinal scan along with a cross-sectional retina scan would be beneficial in screening and assisting in the early diagnosis of diseases such as diabetes, glaucoma, macular degeneration, hypertension, and retinal tears. These advanced technologies, alongside traditional testing methods, allow safer working distances and assist us in assessing the health of the eye, especially during these times. Regretfully, OHIP has not kept up with these advances and only covers a basic eye examination, which is below our current standard of care. The fees for these tests will be provided at the time of booking.
We are also providing telemedicine consultations, when appropriate, to assist with accommodating appointments that can be managed without an office visit.
In keeping with new safety protocols, shopping for eyewear will be done by appointment only. This will allow a more personalized experience, whether this is arranged at the time of your eye examination or when it is mutually convenient. Please email or call us should you be interested in an appointment with one of our exceptional optical advisors. We have implemented a new shopping experience that allows you to conveniently browse our online frame gallery from the comfort of your home where you can virtually try on frames. Choose the ones you like before your appointment, and we will have them ready, along with other personalized suggestions from your eyewear fashion consultant.
Also, remember that we have also launched our contact lens and dry eye products online store during this time. We thank all of you that supported us, continue to support us, and who have continued to help small business and shop local.
Be patient with the doctors and our team as we try to take care as many of you as we can in an efficient and timely manner. Continue to monitor our website for up to date information. Thank you.
As always, I am pleased with the service provided by the staff of Dr. George Papadakis. The front line staff are always courteous & knowledgeable about the products offered at the centre. The clinic is clean & the staff always sanitizing equipments before & after use. Dr. George Papadakis is a caring & knowledgeable eye doctor. He is very up to date with new treatments & equipments in his field. He always take time to explain thoroughly during examination. My family & I are very lucky to have Dr. Papadakis as our eye doctor.
Finch Avenue Optometry is a very professional office. I was especially thankful that everyone is taking such proactive steps to keep patients safe from Covid-19. I appreciate all of the care and positive guidelines that I am given by the specialist. Thanks. Stay safe.
Friendly staff, that did a great job of working with my unagreeable 3 year old to get his first eye examination.
Dr. Papadakis and his staff are incredible. I have been a loyal client of Dr. Papadakis since childhood. Just this morning, I called the office to request an electronic copy of my last invoice, and a staff member emailed me right away. Thank you for making your clients feel extremely valued.
My wife and I have been clients of Dr. Papadakis for more than 20 years. coming there is a very pleasant experience and we even do not consider ourselves as the clients but rather a part of the family. The staff is very good and helpful too.
We have been serving the Greater Toronto Area since 1995. Our clinic is right on the corner of Finch Avenue West and Endell Street.
Finch Avenue Optometry
