Found Us Online? Virtual Naturopathic and Psychotherapy Appointments Are Available Across Ontario

Written by Dr. Melanie Hudson, ND
Edited for Hudson Integrative Healthcare

Maybe you found Hudson Integrative Healthcare while Googling a health concern.

You landed on one of our blog articles about hormones, digestion, thyroid health, insulin resistance, menopause, sleep, lab testing or another topic you’ve been trying to understand.

Then you looked at our clinic location and thought:

“This sounds like exactly the kind of care I’m looking for… but I don’t live near Stoney Creek.”

We have good news.

You may not need to live anywhere near our clinic to work with us.

Hudson Integrative Healthcare is continuing to expand our virtual healthcare availability, with many of our practitioners adding home-office telemedicine shifts specifically so that we can serve more patients conveniently and consistently.

If you live anywhere in Ontario, you can book virtual appointments with members of our naturopathic doctor team.

We also offer virtual psychotherapy appointments, making it easier to access mental health support from home.

So if you found us from Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara, London, Barrie, Kingston—or somewhere in between—we’re glad you found us.

And yes, we may be able to work together.

What Is a Virtual Naturopathic Appointment?

A virtual naturopathic appointment is very similar to sitting down with your naturopathic doctor in one of our clinic rooms.

The difference is that you’re connecting securely by video from home.

During an initial naturopathic consultation, your ND has time to take a detailed health history and learn about what has been happening.

Depending on your concerns, that may include discussing:

• Your current symptoms
• When those symptoms began
• Previous diagnoses
• Medications and supplements
• Nutrition
• Digestion
• Menstrual and hormonal health
• Menopause or perimenopause
• Sleep
• Energy
• Stress
• Exercise
• Metabolic health
• Previous laboratory testing
• Family and personal medical history
• Your goals for treatment

From there, your naturopathic doctor can begin developing an individualized plan.

For many health concerns, an extensive portion of naturopathic assessment and ongoing care can be accomplished very effectively through conversation, reviewing records and laboratory results, and monitoring your response to treatment.

You Can Start With a Video Initial Consultation

You do not necessarily need to visit our Stoney Creek clinic before becoming a naturopathic patient.

If you live elsewhere in Ontario, simply look for one of our telemedicine naturopathic appointment options when booking online.

You can meet your ND by secure video call and begin the assessment process from your own home.

For busy parents, professionals, people living outside Hamilton, patients without convenient transportation and anyone who simply prefers virtual healthcare, this can make accessing ongoing naturopathic care considerably easier.

What About Bloodwork and Lab Testing?

This is one of the first questions virtual patients often have.

“If I’m seeing my naturopathic doctor online, how do I get bloodwork?”

When laboratory testing is appropriate and within your ND’s scope to order, requisitions can be provided electronically through our secure patient portal.

That means you can access your documents without needing to drive to Hudson Integrative Healthcare simply to pick up paperwork.

Depending on the testing being ordered, you can then take the requisition to the appropriate laboratory or collection location.

Your ND can review the results with you at a subsequent virtual appointment.

Laboratory testing is never automatically required simply because you’re seeing a naturopathic doctor. Testing is selected based on your health history, symptoms and clinical needs.

Depending on the patient, testing may include areas such as:

• Blood sugar and insulin
• Cholesterol and metabolic markers
• Thyroid health
• Iron and ferritin
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
• Reproductive hormones
• Other investigations relevant to your individual presentation

Our naturopathic doctors may also work with a variety of specialty laboratory tests when appropriate.

Your Records and Visit Information Stay Accessible Online

Virtual care shouldn’t mean chasing paperwork.

Our secure patient portal allows patients to conveniently access important components of their care online.

Depending on the document, you may be able to access items such as:

• Appointment information
• Relevant treatment recommendations
• Laboratory requisitions
• Documents shared by your practitioner
• Information related to upcoming appointments

This can be particularly convenient when most or all of your naturopathic care is being completed remotely.

Instead of keeping track of stacks of paper, important information can remain accessible through your patient account.

Supplements Can Be Shipped Directly to Your Home

Another question we hear is:

“What happens if my naturopathic doctor recommends supplements and I don’t live near the clinic?”

You don’t necessarily have to come to Stoney Creek for those either.

When appropriate, our naturopathic doctors can make professional supplement recommendations through Fullscript.

Patients can then order recommended products online and have them shipped directly to their home.

This is particularly helpful for virtual patients because it allows us to recommend practitioner-grade products while keeping the entire process convenient.

Your ND can also review what you’re already taking before recommending anything new. More supplements aren’t always better, and our goal is to create a focused treatment plan rather than an unnecessarily complicated one.

Follow-Up Appointments Can Happen From Home Too

Naturopathic care usually isn’t about having one conversation and never checking in again.

Follow-up appointments allow us to review:

• How symptoms are changing
• Laboratory results
• Your response to treatment
• Nutrition changes
• Supplement response
• New concerns
• Progress toward your goals

For virtual patients, these appointments can continue by video.

That can make naturopathic care much easier to fit into everyday life.

Instead of factoring in driving time, parking and travel to and from the clinic, you can connect with your practitioner from your home office, living room or another private location.

Virtual Care Can Be Especially Helpful for Busy Parents

Sometimes accessing healthcare is less about finding the right practitioner and more about finding time to physically get there.

A one-hour appointment can easily become several hours once you include:

• Driving
• Traffic
• Parking
• Childcare
• Time away from work

Virtual care removes many of those barriers.

You still need a private space and uninterrupted time for your appointment, but you don’t necessarily need to rearrange half of your day simply to have the consultation.

Virtual Care Can Also Improve Appointment Availability

Hudson Integrative Healthcare has traditionally provided extensive in-clinic availability in downtown Stoney Creek.

Now, more of our practitioners are also incorporating home-office virtual shifts into their schedules.

That means our healthcare team doesn’t always need an available physical treatment room in order to see another patient.

Expanding telemedicine availability allows our practitioners to offer additional appointment times and gives patients more options when trying to find something that works with their schedule.

It also allows members of our team to continue supporting clinic patients remotely when working from home.

What Health Concerns Can I Discuss With a Naturopathic Doctor Virtually?

A very wide range of concerns can begin with a virtual naturopathic consultation.

Patients commonly seek naturopathic care to discuss areas such as:

• Digestive concerns
• IBS and bowel changes
• Hormonal health
• PMS and PMDD
• Perimenopause and menopause
• PCOS
• Fertility and reproductive health
• Thyroid concerns
• Fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Insulin resistance
• Blood sugar regulation
• Weight and metabolic health
• Cholesterol and cardiovascular risk factors
• Nutritional concerns
• Stress
• Supplement planning
• Review and interpretation of laboratory results

Some concerns may eventually require physical examination, conventional medical investigation or another healthcare professional.

Your ND can help identify when virtual naturopathic care is appropriate and when something needs to be assessed in person.

Can I See a Prescribing Naturopathic Doctor Virtually?

Hudson Integrative Healthcare also has naturopathic doctors with additional prescribing authority.

For appropriate patients, prescribing NDs may be able to provide virtual assessment and ongoing care for concerns within their authorized scope.

This may be particularly relevant for patients seeking assessment related to areas such as perimenopause and menopause, where prescription options may form one part of an individualized treatment discussion.

Whether a prescription is appropriate depends on your health history, symptoms, contraindications, required assessment and the prescribing ND’s clinical judgement.

Virtual care doesn’t mean skipping appropriate medical screening.

What About Psychotherapy?

Naturopathic medicine isn’t our only service available remotely.

Hudson Integrative Healthcare also offers virtual psychotherapy appointments.

For many people, speaking with a psychotherapist from home feels more comfortable and considerably easier to schedule.

Virtual psychotherapy may be appropriate for people seeking support with concerns such as:

• Anxiety
• Stress
• Low mood
• Life transitions
• Relationships
• Parenting challenges
• Burnout
• Grief
• Emotional overwhelm
• Other mental health concerns

You can connect privately by video rather than travelling to the clinic for each appointment.

For patients already receiving naturopathic care with us, this also means that both physical and emotional health support can be accessed within the broader Hudson Integrative Healthcare team.

How Does Payment Work for a Virtual Appointment?

We want the administrative side of virtual care to be easy too.

Our experienced front-desk team manages virtual appointments in much the same way as appointments taking place inside the clinic.

Where applicable, our team can assist with direct billing, or payment can be processed conveniently using the credit card securely kept on file for your account.

Coverage varies by insurance plan and service, so patients should always confirm the details of their individual extended health benefits.

Already Have Insurance Coverage for Naturopathic Medicine or Psychotherapy?

Virtual appointments don’t necessarily mean giving up your extended health benefits.

Many benefit plans include naturopathic medicine and/or registered psychotherapy, subject to the individual plan’s eligibility requirements and annual limits.

Our administrative team can help with the billing process where direct billing is available.

You are responsible for confirming the details of your own insurance coverage.

How Do I Book a Virtual Appointment?

We’ve tried to make this part simple.

Visit our online booking system and look for the appointment type that corresponds with the care you’re seeking.

For naturopathic medicine, select one of our telemedicine naturopathic appointment options.

For psychotherapy, look for the appropriate virtual psychotherapy appointment option.

You can then choose from the practitioners and appointment times currently available.

New naturopathic patients should select an appropriate initial consultation, rather than a follow-up appointment.

Book Online 

What if I Live Close to Stoney Creek?

Virtual care isn’t only for patients who live far away.

Many local patients use a combination of in-person and telemedicine appointments.

For example, you may prefer to:

• Have your initial consultation in person
• Complete some follow-ups by video
• Come into the clinic when a physical assessment or in-person service is useful
• Use virtual appointments when work, weather, childcare or scheduling makes travelling inconvenient

Your care doesn’t have to be exclusively one or the other.

Our goal is to make healthcare accessible while still choosing the type of appointment that makes clinical sense.

What if I Live Somewhere Else in Ontario?

This is exactly why we’re expanding our virtual availability.

If you have been reading our articles and thinking:

“I wish this clinic were closer to me.”

Take another look at our online booking schedule.

Our naturopathic doctors provide telemedicine appointments to patients throughout Ontario, so distance from Stoney Creek doesn’t necessarily need to prevent you from working with our team.

You could be sitting several hundred kilometres away from Hudson Integrative Healthcare and still have:

• Your initial consultation by video.
• Your laboratory requisition available through your secure portal.
• Your follow-up appointments online.
• Your supplement recommendations delivered to your home.
• Your payment handled remotely.

Healthcare has changed significantly, and we’re continuing to build our clinic around that flexibility.

We’re Expanding Beyond the Walls of Our Clinic

We love our physical clinic in downtown Stoney Creek.

But Hudson Integrative Healthcare is increasingly becoming more than what happens inside the walls of 7 King St. East.

As members of our team add dedicated virtual and home-office availability, we can support more patients without geography being the deciding factor.

That means more appointment options for our existing patients.

It also means something exciting for people discovering us for the very first time.

If you found us online from somewhere else in Ontario, you didn’t find the wrong clinic.

You may have found exactly the team you’ve been looking for.

Ready to Meet With One of Our Practitioners?

At Hudson Integrative Healthcare, virtual naturopathic and psychotherapy appointments make it possible to access individualized care from the comfort of home.

Our naturopathic doctors provide telemedicine appointments to patients throughout Ontario, including virtual initial consultations and follow-up care.

Virtual psychotherapy appointments are also available with members of our psychotherapy team.

Hudson Integrative Healthcare
7 King St. East, Stoney Creek, Ontario

Use our online booking system to select a telemedicine naturopathic appointment or virtual psychotherapy appointment and view current practitioner availability.

Whether you’re five minutes from the clinic or several hours away, we’re here to help you find a way to access care.

Virtual care is not appropriate for every health concern. Your practitioner may recommend an in-person physical examination, laboratory investigation, emergency assessment, family physician assessment or referral to another healthcare professional when clinically appropriate. Telemedicine services are provided in accordance with each practitioner’s professional scope and regulatory requirements.