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7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 19,2020 insidehalton.com Be Safety Savvy Oakville Hydro is conducting a Public Electrical Safety Survey via telephone in March. DID YOU KNOW You need to maintain a distance ofYou need to maintain a distance ofY 10 metres from a downed power line and 3 to 6 metres away from overhead power lines? Learn more about the safety questions you may be asked by scanning the QR code with your iPhone camera or Android app, or visit www.oakvillehydro.com/safetysurvey 10m 3m - 6m ALL PRICES IN EFFECT THURSDAY, MARCH 19 TO WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2020 UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. Prices of products that feature the M&M Food Market Rewards Special logo are exclusive to members of the M&M Food Market Rewards program. Simply present your membership card, or sign up for a free membership in store or online, to take advantage of these exclusive offers. M&M Food Market Express and other non-traditional stores offer a limited range of products; therefore special pricing and promotions are not valid at M&M Food Market Express or other non-traditional stores. OAKVILLE 2163 Sixth Line 905-338-3459 (just north of UpperMiddle Road) Hwy. 5Hwy. 5 River Oaks Blvd. Upper Middle Rd. Q.E.W. S ix th Li ne T ra fa lg ar R d. T ra fa lg ar R d. T ra fa lg ar R d. T ra fa lg ar R d. OAKVILLE 635 Fourth Line 905-842-4233 (just south of Speers Rd.) Q.E.W. Speers Rd. Rebecca St. Lakeshore Rd. Fo ur th Li ne D or va lD r. OAKVILLE PRINCE MICHAEL 2525 PrinceMichael Dr. 905-257-2412 (PrinceMichael at Dundas St.) Dundas St. E. Upper Middle Rd. 8t h Li ne Prin ce Mic ha elD r. Northridge Trail Grand AvAvA e.Tr af al ga rR d. TD Bank Shoppers Drug Mart Chicken Strips 27-33 PIECES 1.36 kg27-33 PIECES 1.36 kg LIMIT OF 3 PER CUSTOMER 1499 save $9 1299 save $6 REWARDS SPECIAL™ Fully Cooked Chicken Wings 907 g/2 lb Choose from 10 varieties. TRY THIS! 399 Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce 350 mL ANIMAL TALES A squirrel makes its way through the snow in southeast Oakville. Got a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Marylou Oliver photo The world has changed since I was a kid. iPads. Alexa. Google. Netflix. Apps. Smart homes. Electric cars. USB 3.0. Bank- ing from your iPhone. Open source web browsers, oper- ating systems and encyclo- pedias. There is more computing power in your hand right now than you had in your home in the entire decade between 1990 and 2000. I look at iTunes and re- member my first Walkman. The time it took to record my mixtape of Madonna, De- peche Mode and Nirvana. Of listening for the song on the radio, hitting record right when it started, hitting pause just as it ended -- but before the radio announcer's voice came on.voice came on.v I love that I can do so much on my phone. While some of it is surfing useless- ly on the sea of social media, I love that so much of it is ac- tually productive. My phone is my office. I can attend meetings and seminars. Re- search. Scan. Fax. Write re- ports and create presenta- tions. I can even remotely access patient medical re- cords while on house calls for my complex houseboundfor my complex houseboundf patients. Over the past couple of months, I've introduced vir- tual visits using OTN, the Ontario Telemedicine Net- work. I can now securely see patients over my phone -- while they're away for uni- versity, cooking dinner or even while they're taking a break at work. It's convenient. But it isn't appropriate for everything. My patient, afor everything. My patient, af busy young mom of three, went to a walk-in clinic be- cause it was more conve- nient. She was seen by a doc- tor via video. It was a ran- dom doctor, someone who didn't know her or her med- ical history. She came to see me right after because some- thing about the interaction didn't sit right with her. Turned out to be a missed diagnosis. As a society, we are busi- er than ever before. We val- ue convenience more than ever before. But health care is not con- venient. And good care can't always be convenient. Conti- nuity of care, having a doctor who knows you, under- stands you and knows your medical and social history matters. It improves patient outcomes time and again. Access is important -- being seen quickly for ur- gent issues; being able to book a non-urgent appoint- ment within a week or two. But access to your own med- ical doctor makes a bigger difference to your health and your life than access to any random provider. Knowing you, knowing your health and social history, and knowing your patterns matters. Your health is worth theYour health is worth theY time and patience. Nadia Alam is a George- town physician and past president of the Ontario Medical Association. Her columns also appear on www.medium.com/ @docschmadia. She can be reached at nadia.alam @oma.org. QUALITY HEALTH CARE CAN'T ALWAYS BE CONVENIENT OPINION HAVING A DOCTOR WHO KNOWS YOU AND YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY SHOULD NEVER BE UNDERRATED, SAYS DR. NADIA ALAM NADIA ALAM Column