New phone service aims to help Montreal families quickly book medical appointments for kids – Montreal

Two Montreal pediatric hospitals have joined forces to announce the creation of a brand new system permitting households to shortly e-book a medical appointment for a kid who’s sick however doesn’t want emergency care.

In a information launch, hospital officers stated The One Name, One Appointment cellphone line was put in place to assist alleviate emergency room congestion at each the Montreal Kids’s Hospital and the CHU Sainte-Justine.

Officers at each services say their emergency rooms have been extraordinarily busy prior to now few weeks, leading to lengthy wait instances for households and growing strain on hospital employees.

Dr. Robert Barnes, affiliate director {of professional} companies on the Montreal Kids’s Hospital identified that emergency rooms are “designed and geared up to avoid wasting kids who’re in crucial situation.”

Now, moderately than heading to the emergency division, mother and father can name 514 890-6111, the place they’ll anticipate to be matched with a pediatric appointment inside just a few hours. These appointments shall be dispatched among the many metropolis’s 80 household drugs teams and 350 medical clinics.

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Officers stated the service is accessible for kids from 0 to 16 years of age on the island of Montreal from 8:00 a.m. to eight p.m. Monday by Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

“It’s meant to offer speedy occasional care,” stated Dr. Marc Girard, director {of professional} companies on the CHU Sainte-Justine. “It is a easy and efficient answer to assist mother and father confronted with a one-off, semi-urgent well being drawback.”

Dad and mom, nevertheless, are being requested to attempt reserving an appointment with their household physician earlier than turning to the One Name, One Appointment cellphone service for assist.

Likewise, if a baby is affected by “an acute well being drawback” and their normal situation is deteriorating, mother and father ought to name emergency companies.