→ Something people say
"Out here, every appointment is a drive into town."
An online weight loss clinic for Ottawa, from home.
Ontario Virtual Weight Loss is an online weight loss clinic and weight management clinic for adults in Ottawa, from Orléans to the villages. You see a Nurse Practitioner by video from home, give blood at a lab collection centre near you, and get a plan in writing. Nobody has to drive downtown, because there's no downtown office.
The real answer
Ottawa is mostly countryside. Your care can reach all of it.
Weight loss care in Ottawa, wherever in Ottawa you live: a Nurse Practitioner meets you by video, a lab collection centre near you takes your blood work, and your plan arrives in writing. Visits happen while you're on the Ontario side of the river.
- Your history, online, in your own timeyou
- A video visit from home, town or villageyour NP
- Blood work at a collection centre near youlocal lab
- A plan in writingyour NP, with you
Four-fifths of the city is rural. The visit comes to you.
The City of Ottawa says its rural area covers about 2,192 square kilometres, almost 79% of the city's land, and includes 26 villages. For a lot of people in Ottawa, a clinic appointment means a drive, parking and a morning gone. Here the visit is a video call, and the only in-person step is a blood test at a collection centre near you.
Live in Gatineau, work in Ottawa? Visits happen on the Ontario side.
Ottawa sits on the Ottawa River, with Gatineau, in Quebec, on the other bank. That matters for online care. The College of Nurses of Ontario considers care to take place "where the client is physically located," not where the nurse is. So this program is for people who are in Ontario at the time of each visit. If you live in Ottawa and work across the river, book your video visits for when you're home.
No referral, no waitlist to get onto first.
The University of Ottawa's Faculty of Medicine reported in 2023 that at least 134,000 people in the Ottawa region weren't attached to a family doctor or primary care team. You don't need one to start here: the online assessment needs no referral.
A Nurse Practitioner leads your care, and can do all of it.
People often search for a weight loss doctor in Ottawa. Here, a Nurse Practitioner leads your care. The College of Nurses of Ontario says Ontario Nurse Practitioners are "authorized to diagnose, order, and interpret diagnostic tests and prescribe medications." Meet your clinician
From the assessment to the check-ins.
- First: the online assessment, in your own time. Your history, medications and what you've tried.
- Next: a video visit. Your Nurse Practitioner goes through your answers and asks what a form can't.
- Then: blood work at a lab collection centre near you, and your results explained in plain words.
- Your plan: in writing. Prescription treatment only if it's appropriate and you want it, plus steps that fit your actual week.
- Ongoing: check-ins on how you feel, side effects and adjustments.
Questions, answered plainly.
Is there a weight loss clinic in Ottawa I'd need to visit?
No. Ontario Virtual Weight Loss is an online clinic: visits are by video, and the only in-person step is blood work at a lab collection centre near you in Ottawa.
I live in Gatineau. Can I join?
Only for visits that happen while you're in Ontario. Care is considered to take place where you are at the time, and this program is for people in Ontario.
Who is it for?
Adults 18 and over who are in Ontario at the time of their visits. Prescription treatment is generally considered for adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related health condition. Your clinician makes the final decision. Is this for me?
Do I need a referral?
No. You can get started yourself, whether or not you have a family doctor.
What if I live in a rural part of Ottawa and need more than a video visit?
Your Nurse Practitioner tells you, and arranges a referral when something needs another specialist.
→ Your turn
Say it openly. We'll answer properly.
Say it openly, from anywhere in Ottawa. We'll answer properly.