Aylmer Ultrasound thriving at thirty

by Renée Hueston

With years of ultrasound technology experience, a passion for the job, a caring mentor and a strong team, Allie Aquilina, new owner of Aylmer Ultrasound, feels ready to keep the business moving forward and growing.

Aylmer Ultrasound celebrated its 30th anniversary in April. Previous owner Laurie Annaert handed over the reins to Allie in February, and continues to work at the business she lead for three decades.

“I’ve been a sonographer for 11 years. I’ve been with Aylmer Ultrasound for a year,” Allie said in a recent interview with the Express.

She said, “I always knew I wanted to be in the healthcare field. I remember in high school I went and did a rotation in the X-ray department,” and it caught her interest.

“I started out in the X-ray program and switched into sonography, and I’ve loved it ever since day one. I just, I kind of knew this is what I wanted to do.”

Of the decision to become a business owner, she said, “I’ve known Laurie personally for many years and I knew this was something I wanted to do. I previously worked at London X-Ray Associates, and I was the head coordinator of the ultrasound department.”

She asked herself, “Where can I go from here? What are my next steps to strengthen myself?

“I heard through the grapevine that Laurie was looking to slow down and sell. So I reached out to her and, here we are,” she gestured to the office around her.

Allie said of the past year, “It’s been really smooth,” it was seamless and comforting, “Because Laurie’s staying on with me. She’s mentoring me through the whole process. She works for me one day a week and then she’s there when I have questions as well, if needed.

“It’s been a very good transition and I’m very thankful.”

Allie said, the best part of the job was the interaction with patients, “Especially for our OB patients, we’re always excited to see them come through the doors and provide them with good healthy information in their pregnancy.”

She did say that a common assumption about the field was, “a lot of people assume ultrasound is just pregnancy but it’s much more than that. If you see your doctor and they need some information, they often recommend ultrasound first, before CTs or MRIs. So we really are the frontline in diagnostic imaging.”

Aylmer Ultrasound offers a wide range of services. “We do anything from abdominal and pelvic work to musculoskeletal ultrasound as well as obstetrics. We do the carotid ultrasounds and some vascular ultrasounds here, as well as what’s called small parts (thyroids, lumps and bumps).”

Patients arrived at Aylmer Ultrasound only with a referral from a physician’s office, midwife or nurse practitioner. “It’s all referral based. We are a private clinic, but it’s an independent health facility through the Ministry of Health.” The billing at the clinic is almost entirely done through OHIP, with a few uninsured customers paying out of pocket.

Once they perform the ultrasound, the image is sent to a radiologist (Dr. Walter Romano at STEGH), who then reviews the ultrasound, formulates the report, and sends it to the referring medical professional.

The clinic has two ultrasound rooms and machines, and Allie hopes to expand to a

The clinic sees on average 40 patients a day, and annually

7,600 third, “as the community needs it.”

Right now, they see about 40 patients a day, annually 7,600.

Allie said she recalled there used to be lulls around holidays, but since the pandemic, it’s been consistently busy, but “We try to keep our wait time as fast as possible. We like to keep it under two weeks for our patients, if possible.”

She said the team there was also excellent. “The staff is great. I’m very lucky to have been able to step into that. Everyone works well together.”

Allie reflected, “I feel like my greatest reward is being able to serve the community and provide care that’s much needed.”

She said it was comforting for a patient to be assured about their experience they should arrive and feel that “I know I’m going to get in quickly, I’m going to be treated well, have the patient care that I deserve and my doctor’s going to get results quickly so I can figure out what’s going on.”