Niagara North Family Health Team - Fourth Ave Site

Cannot get through on the phone, ... 3 days in a row multiple times a day, 16 minutes at a time just to be hung up on.... You want to use the 'portal', you gotta pay..... But everything is fine once you finally get past the entitled reception desk, ...the actual doctors are very nice and caring !! Signed: A very concerned spouse of a cancer patient who is a patient of one of the doctors in this establishment.

Been part of this clinic for a few years now..I have zero issues with any of the medical team. They all have been lovely.. my issue is with the new phone system, after 15 .mins it kicks you out of the line and hangs up. Where before yes you could wait on hold for 25 mins but you had a spot in line. It took me two days to get an appointment for my sick daughter because of this. I shouldn't have to call back every 15mins and hope I have luck to speak to someone. By the second day I had two phones constantly going and took 2hrs. You took away free access to the internal msg system and it priced way to high for a family considering the economy we are in now accessing health care should be free, this was a free perk that you offered and you took it away. Your patients have to work, please consider this and go back to your old system.

I’ve been a patient with this health group for years. Dr. Wickens has shown me care and compassion each and every time I have had to go. She and the whole entire team there make every effort to work with you as their client to provide meaningful health care. I would and do recommend this team to anyone looking for a doctor.

Like many others, I love my doctors and have always had great experiences with them (Dr. Ho, Dr. Capaletti and Dr. Graham are all stellar) but the reception is honestly a joke. We've been with this clinic for 3+ years and I could probably tell a hundred stories about how terrible and unprofessional their reception staff is. It's next to impossible to get them on the phone, typically you have to sit through a ten minute message and then are always on hold AT LEAST 15 minutes. I've often had to call back 3-4 times because the phone will drop you after 20. The hours they answer the phone are so limited, they close the phone lines for 2 hours at lunch, do not answer them Thursday afternoons and newly are completely closed on Fridays. It's extremely difficult when you need to block off an hour out of your day just to try to reach your doctor when I also work a busy job. When you do speak to them they're very rude and frankly terrible at their job. Most recently my husband called to make a appointment for my son (on Oct 1) and was told "your appointment is on the 27th". We marked it on the calendar and showed up Oct 27 only to be told that the appointment was NOVEMBER 27th. We were very nice about it because we know mistakes happen but the receptionist was essentially laughing at us and scoffed at me like I was wildly unreasonable when I asked if there was anything sooner because we had already been waiting for a month. Their after hours clinic is also a total joke- they only let you call to make an appointment for the clinic that starts at 5pm (and an appointment is required) starting at 4pm. Like usual the phones are not answered and every time I have finally gotten through all the appointments are booked- yet they threaten to drop you if you go to a walk in clinic. They told me my only options were to call their Fort Erie Clinic and go there (from St. Catharines) or go to the ER. Once we tried to get my husband in for neck pain which had started 48 hours ago but gotten exponentially worse that day and they told us he wasn't allowed because the issue "hadn't started within 24 hours of the appointment" so he didn't fit the criteria for their urgent care clinic. But of course if we went to a walk in they would drop us. It's really a shame because all the doctors I've dealt with are great but we're looking for a new doctor solely because of how awful their reception is.

I’ve been a patient at this clinic for about five years now, and I can confidently say that Dr. Capeletti and Dr. Ho are some of the best doctors I’ve ever seen. Their care, professionalism, and genuine concern for their patients (including my toddler), have always made me feel supported and heard. I’ve had consistently positive doctor-to-patient experiences and truly appreciate the quality of medical care they provide. That said, the clinic’s communication system has become increasingly difficult to deal with. I used the Pomelo service for the first couple of years, and it was great...easy, quick, and free. Now it feels nearly impossible to reach reception by phone, as if they’re pushing patients to use Pomelo, which is now a paid service. I’ve been on hold for over 45 minutes this morning, having to call back multiple times because the line times out after about 15 minutes. It’s disappointing that in 2025, when online communication should be simpler than ever, it’s become such a frustrating experience. I truly love my doctors and the care they provide, but this new communication barrier is really impacting the overall experience.