Kirklander Trevor Hall hasn’t looked back since signing up for a 24/7 family doctor access program being offered by a members-only Montreal health-care centre where Quebec medicare cards are not accepted.

Hall, 64, said he became a member of Cardiogenix, located on Decarie Boulevard just south of the Metropolitan, about a year ago.

“One of the main reasons I joined was for their complete medical checks,” Hall told The Chronicle, adding he has called the clinic several times and was dealt with promptly.

“Once I had an attack of gout and the doctor came over to my house since I couldn’t go out,” he recalled. “Within 24 hours I had an appointment to see a specialist.”

Hall said he once had called on his family doctor and was told he might have to wait up to six weeks to get an appointment.

“It’s very important to have access 24/7,” he said. “After you call, you will be seen within 24 hours.”

In the past year, he said he has called on the clinic for about seven medical emergencies and he also regularly exercises at their weekly gym course on Wednesday nights.

Hall said the travel from the West Island to Montreal is not a deterrent. “It takes about 15 minutes to go the gym at night, maybe 30 minutes if there’s traffic,” he said. “I feel I am saving my time since I don’t have any emergency room waits (at hospitals).”

Dr. Remi Chehade, a Kirkland resident, said the Cardiogenix clinic currently has about 1,000 members in total and costs for programs range from $58 to about $100 a month but there are no additional costs for any tests. Members must sign up for a year. The clinic opened about three years ago but the family doctor 24/7 access program was launched last year.

Chehade said Cardiogenix’s initial goal was prevention but added the 24/7 family doctor program to help members cope when they fell ill. He said members have to call in for an appointment but each case is dealt with depending on the situation. “When they call a nurse will do a triage. If they can’t be helped over the phone, they can come to the clinic that day or the next if needed, it depends on the urgency. If someone calls with chest pains, we send them to the ER.”

Chehade said his clinic suggests members keep their family doctor (if they have one) and that they are open to working with them if the client wishes.

As for access to general practitioners, Chehade said “it is a major crisis facing the medicare system. About 25 per cent of Quebecers don’t have access to a medical doctor. Or, if they do, they may have to wait three weeks to see our family doctors, who are overburdened.

“We want to keep people out of the emergency room,” he added. “We are filling a niche and offer specialized equipment and access.”

Chehade said they have a group of eight physicians working at Cardiogenix.

As for the services offered, the centre is “fully private. No medicare cards here,” Chehade said.

He said some private insurance policies cover some of their membership fees. “The general rule is that 20 per cent is covered. If you have really good coverage, it goes up to 80 per cent. In five to 10 years (as private health care becomes more customary), I think it’ll be covered a 100 per cent. It’s still evolving. As medicine becomes more private, insurance companies will come into that more.”

While a gloomy economic forecast for 2009 is a reality, Chehade isn’t worried it will keep new members from joining the private clinic. “Your health is not a luxury item. We won’t be affected by an economic downturn.”

Although he doesn’t have any private health insurance coverage, Hall said Cardiogenix services are “worth it” and he “recommends it to anyone.”

As for access to family doctors, local health officials estimate about 25 to 30 per cent of Montreal island residents don’t have one.

As for ER overcrowding, the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe Claire had 40 patients on stretchers in the ward on Monday (46 on Wednesday), nine over its official capacity of 31. Nine of those patients had been in Lakeshore’s ER for more than 48 hours, according to the Montreal Regional Health Board.

Overall, the 17 Montreal ER wards were running at a 123 per cent capacity rate as of Monday (and at 148 per cent on Wednesday).