pediatric care...
In toronto, we had a pediatrician who was recommended by a good friend. She spoke well of the doc and also that he was recommended to her by another friend. i.e. lots of happy parents and happy kids. This doc was great. Most important to me, he was available and conveniently located for me. He even routinely reserves a chunk of time in the afternoons for same-day appointments. plus the office has a doc on call evenings and weekends.
Here in Deep River, there are no pediatricians, no family physicians, no walk-in clinics. There is a Family Health Network (FHN), offering care by Nurse Practictioners (NPs). We have just signed on since they only began accepting "priority" patients i.e. pregnant women or children under age 18 yrs since the new year. When we first moved here at the end of June up until the new year, I learned the FHN was refusing new patients. The reason given was that they did not have a doctor so they were only maintaining their existing patient-base from however many years ago when they did have a doctor here in town. My SiL who lives in town (next door actually) said she and her family still don't have a doc and they've been here for I think 3 years now. Her family were only able to join the FHN roster this year. She even had to wait a little longer since she's not pregnant. Being pregnant was my foot in the door.
Well, it seems the change of heart about whether to accept new patients is not about having a doctor on staff. There still is no doctor on staff. It is about increasing numbers on paper, they began accepting new patients who were pregnant or under 18 yrs, and now they're taking on adult patients within a very large cachment area. The end result of course is since they only have 2 NPs, that it is difficult to get an appointment when needed. Hopefully the stats will attract the interest of a doc for the town, and/or a boost in gov't funding.
so ds has a bad flu it started Sunday night with a very high fever that persisted for a few days, which we managed with tylenol, and then he had a minor rash. Sleepless night all around last night due to chest congestion and coughing, though the rash and fever seem to have subsided fortunately. I'm concerned about chest congestion worsening, and possible ear infection since this age group is vulnerable to ear infections until the eustachean tube matures.
I called the FHN at the start of this week, and the earliest I can get an appointment is Thursday of next week. So, I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have to take ds to emerg before then.
The emerg doctors are not particularly child-friendly. I think it's partly they're not accustomed to dealing with young children on a regular basis, but mostly they're always pressed for time in emerg. The town has no doctor so emerg is the default walk-in clinic as well as dealing with actual emergencies.
ds had a high fever over the christmas holidays that didn't seem to respond to tylenol. We took him to emerg around 4 a.m. There was no attempt to cajole or placate a very unhappy, fussy tot in order to take his temp. bp, ear exam, or urine sample. just awful really. totally professional, but utterly lacking in bedside skills for a very young child.
my poor little guy. I guess I'm also anxious b/c I've got asthma so these kind of respiratory infections really take their toll. I don't know if ds has or will have asthma, but I'm hoping he inherits his daddy's more robust constitution and his daddy's 20-20 vision too.
and of course, I've caught ds's cough... and that's generally a bad sign for me.
Here in Deep River, there are no pediatricians, no family physicians, no walk-in clinics. There is a Family Health Network (FHN), offering care by Nurse Practictioners (NPs). We have just signed on since they only began accepting "priority" patients i.e. pregnant women or children under age 18 yrs since the new year. When we first moved here at the end of June up until the new year, I learned the FHN was refusing new patients. The reason given was that they did not have a doctor so they were only maintaining their existing patient-base from however many years ago when they did have a doctor here in town. My SiL who lives in town (next door actually) said she and her family still don't have a doc and they've been here for I think 3 years now. Her family were only able to join the FHN roster this year. She even had to wait a little longer since she's not pregnant. Being pregnant was my foot in the door.
Well, it seems the change of heart about whether to accept new patients is not about having a doctor on staff. There still is no doctor on staff. It is about increasing numbers on paper, they began accepting new patients who were pregnant or under 18 yrs, and now they're taking on adult patients within a very large cachment area. The end result of course is since they only have 2 NPs, that it is difficult to get an appointment when needed. Hopefully the stats will attract the interest of a doc for the town, and/or a boost in gov't funding.
so ds has a bad flu it started Sunday night with a very high fever that persisted for a few days, which we managed with tylenol, and then he had a minor rash. Sleepless night all around last night due to chest congestion and coughing, though the rash and fever seem to have subsided fortunately. I'm concerned about chest congestion worsening, and possible ear infection since this age group is vulnerable to ear infections until the eustachean tube matures.
I called the FHN at the start of this week, and the earliest I can get an appointment is Thursday of next week. So, I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have to take ds to emerg before then.
The emerg doctors are not particularly child-friendly. I think it's partly they're not accustomed to dealing with young children on a regular basis, but mostly they're always pressed for time in emerg. The town has no doctor so emerg is the default walk-in clinic as well as dealing with actual emergencies.
ds had a high fever over the christmas holidays that didn't seem to respond to tylenol. We took him to emerg around 4 a.m. There was no attempt to cajole or placate a very unhappy, fussy tot in order to take his temp. bp, ear exam, or urine sample. just awful really. totally professional, but utterly lacking in bedside skills for a very young child.
my poor little guy. I guess I'm also anxious b/c I've got asthma so these kind of respiratory infections really take their toll. I don't know if ds has or will have asthma, but I'm hoping he inherits his daddy's more robust constitution and his daddy's 20-20 vision too.
and of course, I've caught ds's cough... and that's generally a bad sign for me.