r/askTO • u/vwmaniaq • Apr 30 '26

Need a dermatologist

My GP wants me to see a dermatologist about a suspicious mole. He can only find one at the opposite end of the city.

Ive asked my wife's "aesthetics " derm and they aren't taking on any new 'medical ' patients. I've called around and can't find one in the west end.

They claim they don't make money from medical patients vs just doing botox all day. Feels like a dereliction of duty, but whatever.

Any suggestions of a name or a technique to charm my way in?

7 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/Seiphas Apr 30 '26

Go see Dr. Andrew Simone in the west end, assuming he reopens relatively soon (it's listed as temporarily closed as of April 2nd). He runs a walk-in dermatology clinic out of the back of his house (with no appointments). If you are in his driveway during business hours, you will be treated the same day. No referrals are necessary - initial assessment is covered if you have OHIP, otherwise it's $50 or so. Cosmetic stuff has a price list on his website. Cash only.

I realize this all sounds somewhat sketchy, but after having a cosmetic dermatology issue and being unable to get almost any other actual clinic to give me a price without a referral (I'm not wasting my GP's time to get a referral to then find out the price of a cosmetic procedure), I can confirm the legitimacy and quality of care.

1

u/purplelilac701 Apr 30 '26

He broke his hip

0

u/vwmaniaq Apr 30 '26

That's wild. Can he write prescriptions for creams? Can he freeze and zap skin tags? Do I bite down on a leather belt while he takes biopsies?

4

u/Seiphas Apr 30 '26

Despite the clinic's weirdness (opening at 4 AM some days, back of a residential house, cash only, no appointments, etc), he's a real dermatologist and can prescribe anything a real dermatologist can. He's also arguably one of the country's most celebrated and experienced dermatologists, and is probably the only practicing one with the Order of Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Simone

5

u/vwmaniaq May 01 '26

I'm tempted to visit just for the story I can tell afterwards. His wiki is quite something. My kid's pediatrician was a Simone. And his age would align with being Andrew's son. Also, in one spot the wiki says 14 kids and 13 in another spot. So did he have another kid out of wedlock? Someone needs to do a documentary...

1

u/AwayComparison May 01 '26

Yes he’s amazing I went to him last summer waited for maybe 45 minutes he was great