Durham KidsKare
Whitby Mall, 1615 Dundas St E L1N 2L1 Whitby, ON, Canada

Hello Everyone, We are open tomorrow, December 20, for second flu shots for anyone who received the first shot on or before November 23. If your child is less than 9 years old and this is the first year they have received a flu shot, they need a second dose. They will only need 1 dose each year for the future. And regular urgent care is open as well. Remember to sign up in a correct spot- Urgent Care or Flu shot.

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the late notice but we are open for SECOND flu shots today, December 13. If your child(fen) received their first shot with us before November 15 and are supposed to get a second shot this year, then today’s the day! Please book a flu shot spot on our website.

We want to let you know about the "COVID safe" Pediatric clinic that is operating at the South Whitby Assessment Centre at the Heydenshore Pavilion. As you all know, many doctors aren't seeing patients in person. And those that are, can't let anyone in their offices who fails COVID screening. So for those children who need to be seen but fail screening because of symptoms like fever and cough, they now have a place to go. All physicians in the region should have received an email BUT, you can request a referral to the clinic if your child needs to be assessed in person. They can have a swab done at the same time if it is necessary. The clinic is open Monday-Friday, 9-5. Please see the attached flyer and share it with your own physician.

Hello Everyone, We have received more flu shots but only enough for children who require a second dose. If we gave your child their first dose and you were given a sheet that they require a second one AND it has been 28 days since they received their first shot, there will be spots open this Saturday, November 28. We also have a few nasal flu vaccines left so you can sign up for a flu shot and request the nasal one. When and if we get enough vaccine to do a general flu shot clinic, we will let everyone know.

Hello Everyone, We have 9 doses of the nasal spray flu vaccine. These doses are for children who are so scared of needles that they don’t get the flu shot OR children who have a history of significant reactions to the injected vaccine. Please note, the nasal vaccine is not covered by OHIP so there is a $25 charge for the dose.... If you would like one of the doses, please EMAIL us. Please do not message on Facebook. See more

Hello Everyone, Our next flu shot clinic will be Sunday November 15. Sign up as usual on our website opens that day at 7 am. Be sure to select "FLU SHOT" when picking a time. And if you haven't done so already, review the process for coming to clinic in the October 14 post.

Hello Everyone, We will be having flu shot clinics tomorrow, November 5 and Saturday November 7. Appointments open at 7 am, same day on our website. Please ensure that you pick a flu shot appointment, not urgent care as they are different.... And if you have not done so already, please read our post on October 14 for the process of coming to clinic for flu shots. See more

Hello Everyone, We have 9 doses of the nasal spray flu vaccine. These doses are for children who are so scared of needles that they don’t get the flu shot OR children who have a history of significant reactions to the injected vaccine. Please note, the nasal vaccine is not covered by OHIP so there is a $25 charge for the dose.... If you would like one of the doses, please EMAIL us. Please do not message on Facebook. See more

Hello Everyone, We are waiting on more flu shots from Public Health. We will announce when we have more in stock. Hopefully not too much longer.

Hello Everyone, Just reminding you that we are having a flu shot clinic tomorrow, November 1. Sign up on our website opens at 7am. Remember to pick a flu shot spot, not an urgent care spot. (Urgent care is open too)... And if you haven’t already, read the post from October 14 for screening information etc. See more

Hello Everyone, We know it's very last minute but more FLU SHOTS today! Spots are now open. All the spots from 230-4 are for flu shots even though they say for urgent care. Remember to review the instructions from Oct 14 as to the process

Hello Everyone, Urgent care is quiet today( Oct 30) so we have spots for flu shots available. Please sign up on our website. We will also be having a flu shot clinic on Sunday Nov 1.... If you have not already done so, review the post on October 14 regarding what do do for a flu shot visit. See more

Hello Everyone, We just got in more shots! So, even though it's last minute, we are running a flu shot clinic today from 3pm-5pm. Our flu shot booking system isn't operational yet so, all the spots on our regular online booking, from 3-5pm are for FLU SHOTS, even though it says for urgent care only. Spots BEFORE 3PM ARE FOR URGENT CARE. For all the other instructions, please review the post from Oct 14.

Hello Everyone, As promised, we are having a flu shot clinic tomorrow, October 29. There will be spots throughout the day. And the best part..... We have a separate flu shot booking process on our website. Spots open up at 7 am just like urgent care for same day booking. Click on the BOOK ONLINE box, the next page will give you an option to choose urgent care or flu shot. Select flu shot and the available spots will come up. Fill in the form accordingly, click on book and you... should get the confirmation screen. If you haven't done so, please review the post on October 14 has the instructions regarding self screening before coming etc. See more

What to Expect When Visiting Your Doctor During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hello everyone, We are filled for today. (October 17) We will have more Flu Shot clinics next week as soon as we get more vaccine. We will also have a more streamlined booking process. Stay tuned!

Hello Everyone, Our next Flu Shot Clinic will be Thursday October 29. Details to follow when we get them sorted.

Hello Everyone, We will have very limited hours this week as Dr. Mandel takes a well deserved vacation. Once again, please read our previous posts as to how we are running the clinic during the pandemic. Please DO NOT contact us with appointment requests or other patient related questions on Facebook. Email at any time or call during open hours. We usually respond within 24h.... Hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer! See more

Appointments are now open for the Flu shot clinic today, Oct 17. Spots are available between 1140-4pm. PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS POSTED ON OCTOBER 14 BEFORE BOOKING. If you booked a spot for a flu shot already today, it has been cancelled and you must rebook.

Hello Everyone, It has been a really long time since we posted. We have been really busy keeping kids healthy and enjoying the beautiful summer weather in the little bits of remaining time. Please remember that our hours and services continue to be restricted by COVID19 precautions. All Instructions on what to do are available in our previous posts. Speaking of beautiful summer weather, many people have put in swimming pools of some sort in their backyards.... Did you know that drowning is the second most common cause of deaths after birth defects in children aged 1-4. Please read this important article about water safety from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Play safe! https://www.healthychildren.org//Pool-Dangers-Drowning-Pre

Hello everyone, We will be having a flu shot clinic tomorrow, October 24, from 3pm-6pm. Urgent care will be open from 12-3. Those appointment spots open as usual at 7 am. Flu shot appointment spots will open at 12 noon. The spots from 3pm -6pm are for flu shots, even though it says they are for urgent care. If you have not already done so, please read the post from October 14 regarding the process for flu shots.

We will be having a flu shot clinic tomorrow, Saturday October 17. Appointment times will open sometime between 10-11 am. Please read the post from October 14 for instructions.

Hello Everyone, It's the moment you have been waiting for. Flu shots are in! Please read the full post so you know what to do. If you child has a checkup or other appointment, they can get the shot at their appointment.... For everyone else, because of COVID, we have to do things a bit differently in order to keep everyone safe. We will be having flu shot clinics that will be appointment only. Our first clinic will be tomorrow, Thursday October 15, from 4-7pm. Flu shot appointment slots will open on our website at 10am. Please use 1 slot per child. The flu shot slots are from 4-7. Do not book for flu shots in spots before 4pm. Those are regular urgent care spots and are open at 7 am. Everyone age 3 and up must wear a mask. For families with multiple children, both parents may come, but only 1 parent and child will be allowed in at a time. We strongly recommend that if your children are too young to wait outside by themselves or you expect that your child(ren) will need help to cooperate, both parents should attend. One parent can come in to register while everyone else waits out in the mall. Make sure you bring everyone's health card. Before signing up, please screen your child using the school screening tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/ If they fail the screening, DO NOT BOOK A FLU SHOT APPOINTMENT until they do pass the screening. We will have a limited number of shots for parents of our rostered patients. If you do not get a spot, the next flu shot clinic will be on Saturday October 17, time TBA. We will continue to announce times for flu shot clinics here on Facebook.

Hello everyone, Please read our previous posts completely for information on how the clinic is running, making appointments etc. Here is something interesting that has nothing to do with COVID 19. Did you know that playing on spaces that involve natural elements like rocks, trees and plants had a positive impact on children's social and emotional development, motor skills, physical activity, health-related fitness, and cognitive learning. The research focused on children age...d 2 to 12, also found that unstructured nature play consistently improved learning and creativity. So go outside and play! See more

Hello Everyone, First of all, please join us in congratulating Dr. Zivot on the birth of her new baby girl. The baby came early and quickly, surprising all of us! As with everything during these crazy times, we continue to modify how we are providing care.... You will notice on our website, that our hours just state whether we are open or closed. You can still book online and available spots will show on the online booking page. PLEASE DO NOT WALK IN. All appointments must be prescreened as stated on our website. If your child needs a check up and vaccines, these are NOT URGENT APPOINTMENTS, do not book online. Please email us and we will get back to you with an appointment. We continue to offer check ups and vaccines for those whose family doctor's offices are closed as well as our own patients. Health agencies and Paediatric Societies all over the world continue to promote the importance of maintaining children's immunization schedules to keep them safe from all the other stuff out there. Also, please do not ask medical questions or request appointments by Facebook. We do not monitor it regularly. If you are a rostered patient, please email us. If you are not rostered, then please book an urgent care appointment or email us if you are not sure what to do. Our email is checked constantly. And most importantly, as messaged by Dr. Bonnie Henry, the Chief Public Health Officer in BC, Be calm, be kind, be safe.

Hello everyone, Hope you are managing to stay sane and keep your kids busy. We continue to offer telemedicine and some office hours for children who must be seen. Most importantly, we are still doing check ups and vaccinations. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that children continue to have their routine health care to ensure that they are growing and developing normally and vaccines to protect them from all the nasty non Coronavirus stuff that we can prevent. We ar...e offering this service to all children at the current time, even those who are not normally rostered with us. So if your family doctor‘s office is closed, or you don’t have a family doctor and your child is due for a checkup, please email us and we will contact you to schedule an appointment. We will also see newborns who don’t have access to their regular doctor. As usual, please share this information with your friends, family, neighbours, even old friends from high school, and those who don’t use social media. See more

Hi Everyone, we continue to refine how we are providing care to your children. We are doing most of our urgent care visits by telemedicine. Video calls have been very effective. We can do the appointment by either FaceTime or Skype. You can continue to book appointments on line as usual. Our nurse will call you to determine if you need to come in and if it is safe for you to do so. If it will be a telemedicine visit, she will ask whether it will be by FaceTime, Skype or regul...ar phone. Please ensure that you are set up to do either FaceTime or Skype before the appointment. We are continuing to do checkups on all children who need vaccines. We are booking well visits at different times than sick visits to keep everyone safe. Anyone with fever or respiratory symptoms will be seen by telemedicine For everyone’s protection. Email if you have any questions about how we are operating during Coronavirus. And stay tuned to Facebook for regular updates. Please share this with all your friends and family including those who don’t use social media.

Hello everyone, There will be some changes in how we run the clinic during the Coronavirus pandemic. We cannot do Coronavirus screening. We also need to keep ourselves and everyone else safe. Anyone with fever and/ or respiratory symptoms will be seen by telemedicine. We are now set up to do video visits.Everyone else, the procedure is as described below. Anything to do with Coronavirus, please call Durham Public Health at 905 668 7711 or go to one of the assess...ment centres. There will be less flexibility in appointment times In order to keep patients and staff safe. In order to maintain social distancing, we ask that you come check in for your appointment and then go wait outside or in your car. We will call you when we are ready to put you in a room. Only one adult is to accompany children to clinic. Siblings cannot come. If only one parent can drive, then we ask that you wait in the car. We are putting away our toys for now so please bring whatever you need to keep your kids entertained (preferably not a screen!). We will be doing many appointments by telemedicine. You will be told when the appointment is booked (or being rescheduled due to changes in our hours) if your appointment will be done that way. All Urgent Care appointments will be prescreened by phone. If your appointment can wait, our nurse will let you know. If it will be done by telemedicine, she will let you know that too. We will not be allowing walk ins for now except for possible fractures or if your child needs stitches. Even then please email us at [email protected] before coming. The situation is changing rapidly and we must adjust accordingly. Please continue to check Facebook. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Hello everyone, Do you know that check-ups are so much more than getting immunizations? That’s why Pediatricians consider them so important. Well child visits are scheduled just after a baby is born, at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years and then every year around the time of your child’s birthday. At well child visits, we monitor your child’s growth and check that they do not develop any physical abnormalities ...than can develop in growing kids. Developmental screening is an important part of well child visit. We ask lots of questions to ensure that your child is learning new skills appropriately and that there are no concerning signs for developmental or behaviour conditions such as autism or ADHD. Adolescence is an important time in your child’s life. We monitor their growth and pubertal development. We teach them about healthy life style habits such as diet and not smoking. We talk about birth control and safe sex. We are there to back you up about the important conversations . But most importantly, we offer advice on the common concerns of parents. How to get your child to sleep, how to introduce solid food, how to discipline your toddler and how to stop your children from fighting are all topics that we can help with. For most common issues, we offer guidance ahead of time. Parenting is really hard so tips and tricks can make life easier. Most importantly, they can help you get a good night sleep. So please don’t forget to schedule your children’s checkups. As usual, our hours this week are posted on our website. www.durhamkidskare.com See more

Hello Everyone, we have more flu shots but we are reserving them for children who need their second shot. If your child received the flu shot for the first time ever this season and has only had one shot, please come in anytime during our open hours.

Good Morning Everyone! Did you know? Iron is an essential micronutrient necessary for hemoglobin production (hemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen around the body), brain development, and protection from infection. Early childhood (age <2 years) is a time of particular vulnerability as iron deficiency has been shown to have negative effects on brain development. Preventing iron deficiency is essential in this age group. The Canadian Pediatric Society currently recommend...s: - Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age - Iron-fortified formula for all formula-fed infants. - Introduction of iron-rich foods by 6 months of age. Examples of iron-rich foods include: iron-fortified cereals, meat, meat-alternatives, - Delayed introduction of cows milk until 9-12 months of age, limiting to 750ml per day then further reducing cows milk intake to 500ml per day from age 1-2 -Infants with risk factors such as prematurity and low birthweight should have oral iron supplementation beginning in early infancy. - For well infants, formula feeding is not required beyond 12 months of age If you are concerned that your child is not consuming enough iron-rich foods, talk to your Pediatrician or Family Doctor at their next well visit! Hope everyone enjoys their family day together and stay warm!

Hi Everyone! We’re finally getting a bit of snow! Winter is a really fun season but can also be dangerous for kids and adults. It’s important to stay safe by ensuring supervised outdoor play for kids under 8, no unsupervised outdoor play in extreme weather conditions, and frequent indoor breaks for younger kids to check that they’re warm and have a warm drink. Everyone should stay indoors when windchill is -27C and apply sunscreen to any exposed skin in order to help preven...Continue reading

Hello everyone, do you know that 1 in 4 children have vision problems that can affect their learning and development? Your doctor starts checking baby’s eyes right from birth. We recommend that all children have their vision screened for the first time at age 2. This is done by an optometrist. Vision screening is covered by OHIP for children under 19 years of age. The Durham Region Health Department conducts in school vision screening for all children in Senior Kindergarten.... There are also programs for free or low cost glasses for families that need them. Information is available from your optometrist. As usual, our hours this week are posted on our website: www.durhamkidskare.com See more

Hello Everyone, While everyone is worrying about the Chinese coronavirus, we still have an existing threat in Canada, INFLUENZA. Data is still coming in but it looks like the mortality rate from the coronavirus is 2%. The mortality rate from influenza is usually less than 0.5% but can be as high as 10% if the strain is a bad one in a given year. ... From the information available, all of the deaths from coronavirus have been in older people with underlying health issues. However with influenza, children under 5 are more susceptible to severe cases. So.....the coronavirus is fairly similar to a bad strain of influenza. Thus, why are we worrying so much about the coronavirus and not about influenza? We now have more flu shots available. You don't need an appointment, come in anytime during open hours. Our hours are posted on our website www.durhamkidskare.com See more