FAQs for Patients

You are encouraged to pick a doctor who is identified as your primary care Family Physician because

• Your family doctor provides “whole patient” care and takes responsibility for your care in disease prevention and management of illnesses.
• If you have a chronic disease, it is better to see your family doctor who “knows you” whenever possible.

If your family doctor is not available when you need to be seen, then one of the other physicians will look after your medical needs until your family doctor is available again.

Yes, the clinic sees new patients. Please ask which doctors are accepting new patients.

Your doctor is committed to all aspects of Family Medicine care. When not seeing patients in the clinic, he/she may be on call in the Emergency Room, delivering a baby, in the operating room, providing care at a specialty or satellite clinic in our community, attending educational courses or administrative meetings, or taking personal time off.

• Alberta Health Care card
• List of medications (if possible, bring in all of your actual pill bottles)
• If it’s your first visit to the clinic, please bring photo ID
• Your current address and phone number will be updated at each visit

It is best to book an appointment to see your doctor for prescription refills. If that is not possible, then refills may be done over the phone at the discretion of the physician. There may be a charge for this uninsured service.

These are services that are not paid for by Alberta Health. Patients are responsible for the costs of these visits, procedures, or forms. There is a list of Patient Pay Services on this website.

The appointment booking schedule opens up one month at a time. This way, if your doctor is “all booked up,” then you will have a chance to get a booking for the following month when the 1st rolls around again. This way, your doctor won’t be booked up for many months before you have a chance of getting an appointment.

Several physicians in the clinic provide prenatal care and delivery. The doctors work in association with a prenatal nurse to provide your care.

Test results are not routinely given over the phone. Please discuss with your doctor how you will receive your results if they are abnormal.

The doctors serve a large area and population. The wait time to see a doctor is determined by how many people book the available appointment slots.

To help reduce the frustration with wait times:

• Plan ahead for routine prescription refills
• Remember to phone and cancel if you aren’t able to make your appointment. Then someone else can get that appointment slot.

The doctors participate with the universities in teaching medical students and Family Medicine resident doctors. Their work is always supervised by one of the clinic physicians.  Thank you for allowing them to participate in your care – it is very important for their training.

Walk-in appointments are for conditions or concerns that need to be seen that same day or cannot wait until the next available appointment with any doctor. Please see our walk-in hours posted on this website.  Narcotic prescriptions will not be refilled during the walk-in clinic.  You can also call the clinic at 9:00 am to see if there are any cancellations for the day. Walk-in clinic is currently not available.

When possible, tell the receptionist the reason for your visit. Your confidentiality is always respected.  Knowing the reason for your visit allows the receptionist to book the right amount of time for your visit and can improve your doctor’s preparation for your visit.

Yes, forms may be filled out by the physician at the walk-in clinic. However, all forms, including driver’s medicals, will have to be picked up and paid for during regular business hours. Payments will not be collected during the evening walk-in clinic hours. Walk-in clinic is currently not available.

WALK-IN CLINIC: Walk-in appointments are for same day, non-urgent care. Use this service when you are in need of care for minor illnesses and injuries. Walk-in clinic is currently not available.

HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT: Use this service if you are in need of care requiring urgent lab or x-rays, fractures or major strains, chest pains, breathing complications, head injuries, lacerations, severe allergic or drug reactions, or any other critical care/life threatening situations.

REGULAR DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT: Whenever possible, it is best to make a booked appointment with your regular doctor during regular clinic hours. Use booked appointments for routine blood work and checkups, chronic conditions, specialist referrals, and any conditions or prescription refills that can wait for an available appointment. This allows you to maintain continuity of care with your primary care physician.