How can I get my child to see a pediatrician?

Our pediatrician see children on a referral basis. They need to be referred by another physician, often your family doctor. Our pediatrician do not see healthy children for “primary care”.

How do I book a follow-up appointment?

You are required to book all follow-up appointment, either by stopping by the reception desk after the appointment or calling our office later. Our office will not call you to book follow up appointments. You will receive a courtesy reminder phone call 2 days before the appointment.

How do I cancel or re-book an appointment?

Please call our office to speak to the receptionist. If less than 2 business days notice is given, you will be subject to a missed appointment fee. For example, you will not be able to cancel on Friday for a Monday appointment. For more information on our office policies, click here.

I’m running late, what do I do to avoid a missed appointment fee?

Call our office, and the front office staff can review the options with you.

Should I come early to the appointment?

Yes! You are encouraged to come 15 minutes early to the first appointment so that we can register you with the clinic, review our office policies, have your child’s growth measured and ensure your child is ready to see the pediatrician at the start of the appointment time. For follow-up appointment, please arrive 10 minutes early to review your contact information and have your child’s growth measured.

Why is my doctor late?

This can happen for a variety of reasons, most commonly because a patient before you had an unexpected and difficult issues that the pediatrician needed to deal with or the family arrived late to their appointment. You can help us avoid this by ensuring you arrive early so your child is ready to see the doctor at the scheduled appointment time and have a brief list of questions prepared for the pediatrician.

Why do I have to pay for “uninsured services”?

Uninsured services are not covered by Alberta Health Care. You will be responsible for payment of these services. To review a list of uninsured services, click here.

How do I get a copy of my child’s file?

You can obtain a copy of a full file by USB transfer for a fee. We can provide you the USB key with a cost. We do not accept used USB due to risk associated with it, you can provide us your own packed USB for file transfer.  While the actual file transfer may only take a few minutes, our office staff may be busy and not able to complete this task for a couple of hours or a couple of days. They will inform you at the time of the request how long it will take.

Can I email forms or reports to the pediatricians?

Protecting your child’s health information is important to us. For this reason, we do not accept forms or reports by email, unless we have a signed email consent form. You may also fax, mail, or drop-off forms and reports for the pediatrician to review in advance of the appointment.

Can I phone or email the pediatrician?

Our pediatrician do not generally talk to our patients or their families on the phone. If you have a question for them, bring it your next appointment or you are always welcome to call and see if our front office staff can answer your question.

Can my child’s teacher/speech therapist/doctor talk to the pediatrician?

Yes, our pediatrician is more than happy to collaborate for your child by talking to their school, speech therapist, or other physician involved. That individual can book a phone call with the pediatrician.

Why are there medical students or residents that see my child?

Our pediatrician is committed to the education of future doctors. You may see a medical student or resident with our pediatricians. Sometimes a medical student or resident will see you first to obtain information from you and your child. Your child will always see your pediatrician at every appointment, for at least part of the time.

Why do I need a re-referral for my child to see the pediatrician?

A re-referral is needed once your child’s file is closed. This may happen if your child does not follow-up with their doctor within the recommended time period or if the pediatrician feels no follow up is required.

Will I be reminded of my upcoming appointment?

For your first appointment, you will receive a phone call reminder 1 week before your appointment. If you are booked in a short notice cancellation or an urgent appointment under 1 week your appointment will be confirmed at time of booking.

Two days before your next visit you will receive a phone call from our office. If you feel you have an upcoming appointment but did not receive a call, feel free to call our office to confirm your appointment date and time. 

All reminders are a courtesy service. Please update our staff to any changes in your phone numbers or address.

What should I bring in to my first visit to the clinic?

Please bring in both your Alberta Health Card and a piece of photo ID as well as a list of all medications or the medication bottles themselves. If you do not have your Alberta health card we may be able to retrieve your health card number but we require a photo ID to prevent identity theft and fraud.

If you are visiting from out of the province or have been in Alberta for less than 3 months, you may be able to use your home province health card.

If you do not have an Alberta Health card or any provincial health card you will be required to pay out of pocket.

Do you accept walk-ins?

Currently, we do not have family physicians working in our clinic. When we have a family physician we welcome walk-ins during our clinic hours for family physician. On occasion walk-in hours may be closed due to the number of patients waiting. We encourage patients to call before coming in as a walk-in. Appointments have priority and walk-ins are seen in between appointments. 

Where can I go or get medical advice after hours, when the clinic is closed?

If you require immediate attention please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. If you have a serious concern but feel that it is not an emergency, please contact the Calgary health link line at 811. Please keep in mind that the MacEwan Medical Clinic does not provide emergency care.

Can I have my prescription filled without having to see the physician, over the phone or by fax?

Patients requiring a prescription refill from their doctor are required to see them in person to ensure that the medication is appropriate and no changes need to be made. We do not refill medications over the phone or fax. Please make sure you have enough medication to last till your next visit. Starting February, 2020 we will be charging for all prescriptions over the phone. We highly recommend you book an appointment before that occurs, or a fee $30.00 will be charged.

Can I get my test results over the phone?

Test results cannot be given over the phone in order to ensure the privacy of your health information and compliance with the Health Information Act (HIA). You will receive a call if the ordering physician would like to discuss the results with you or if there are results that concern them. If you have not received a call and would still wish to review your results, please feel free to book an appointment.

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If you still have a question that we have not answered above, please call us at (403) 455-8382 to discuss your needs.