The line between the fifteen-minute doctor appointment and the emergency room has grown blurrier in recent years across Ontario. When Katherine Tooley found herself on that line, caught between a family doctor who couldn’t offer the time she needed and hospital care she didn’t quite require, she started imagining a different kind of healthcare—one that would eventually become Aurora’s NOW Health Clinic.
“I was experiencing chronic pain that wasn’t resolving, despite seeing multiple specialists,” Tooley told me as we sat in the bright front room of the clinic she opened last fall. “I’d do these rushed appointments, get prescribed medication, but no one was looking at why this was happening to me.”
Tooley’s personal health journey led her to study functional medicine, which examines the root causes of chronic conditions rather than just treating symptoms. After completing additional certifications beyond her nursing degree, she founded NOW Health in September 2023, creating what she calls “a bridge in the healthcare gap” for patients throughout York Region.
The clinic offers something increasingly rare in our healthcare system: time. Initial consultations last 90 minutes, allowing practitioners to develop comprehensive health histories and treatment plans. Follow-up appointments run 30-60 minutes—a stark contrast to the provincial average of 10-12 minutes with family physicians, according to recent Ontario Medical Association data.
When I visited the clinic on Wellington Street East in Aurora, what struck me wasn’t just the calming aesthetic—though the absence of fluorescent lighting and institutional green walls was refreshing—but the intentional pace. No one seemed rushed. The waiting room held just two chairs. Appointments were spaced with comfortable margins.
“We’re trying to create healthcare that should exist but often doesn’t in our current system,” explains Dr. Melissa Descoteaux, a naturopathic doctor who joined the clinic earlier this year. “Patients come to us when they’ve tried conventional routes but still don’t have answers.”
The clinic focuses on several underserved healthcare areas: digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, autoimmune conditions, and chronic fatigue. Their approach combines conventional medical knowledge with functional medicine testing and lifestyle interventions.
This integrated approach resonates with many patients, including Aurora resident Michael Sanderson, who sought help for persistent digestive issues and fatigue after seeing three specialists without improvement.
“For two years, I just accepted that I would need to live with these symptoms,” Sanderson explained during our conversation at a nearby cafĂ©. “Within three months of working with Katherine, we identified food sensitivities and a gut imbalance that no one had tested for. I’m not saying it’s magic—it took work on my part—but having someone actually investigate why I felt terrible instead of just prescribing medication made all the difference.”
The clinic’s approach isn’t without controversy. Some health policy experts question whether services outside the provincial insurance system create inequitable access. A 2023 report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information noted growing concerns about the expansion of private healthcare options and their potential to exacerbate existing disparities.
When I asked Tooley about this tension, she acknowledged the complexity. “I believe strongly in universal healthcare, but I also see how the current system leaves many patients without the care they need. We try to be as accessible as possible, offering some reduced-rate appointments and payment plans.”
The clinic also works alongside traditional healthcare, not in place of it. Practitioners coordinate with family doctors when patients have them, and they emphasize the importance of emergency care when appropriate.
“We’re not anti-conventional medicine at all,” Dr. Descoteaux clarified. “We’re about finding the right tool for each situation. Sometimes that’s medication, sometimes it’s nutritional changes, sometimes it’s addressing stress or sleep. Usually, it’s a combination.”
This approach aligns with evolving research on chronic disease management. A 2022 study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that multidisciplinary, patient-centered care models produced better outcomes for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune disorders than conventional siloed approaches.
In York Region, where population growth has outpaced healthcare infrastructure, clinics like NOW Health highlight both innovation and systemic strain. According to the Ontario Medical Association, York Region needs approximately 97 additional primary care physicians to meet current demand.
As the afternoon sun streamed through the clinic windows, I watched patients enter looking tense and leave looking lighter. Whether this model represents healthcare’s future or just a necessary complement to an overwhelmed system remains to be seen.
What’s clear is that for patients like Lisa Chen, who drove from Richmond Hill for her appointment, the clinic offers something increasingly precious: to be heard.
“When you’ve spent years being dismissed or rushed through appointments, having someone sit with you for more than an hour and truly listen feels revolutionary,” Chen said. “I don’t know if this approach will fix everything, but I know that being treated like a whole person instead of a collection of symptoms already feels healing.”
As I left the clinic and walked past the growing number of “accepting new patients” signs in Aurora’s medical buildings, I couldn’t help but wonder if what makes NOW Health special isn’t just their treatment approach, but something far simpler that our healthcare system has increasingly sacrificed: time, attention, and the healing power of being truly seen.
