Get to Know Your Health Care Options

A free, round-the-clock, telephone advice and health information service. Highly experienced Registered Nurses can provide you with advice and information about:

• health concerns or symptoms
• treating conditions such as colds and flu, fever, ear aches, rashes, and; many other conditions
• the most appropriate health care option, if you need further follow up for your condition

Anyone in Alberta with a health concern can call:

• Toll-free:
  1-866-408-5465 (LINK)
• Edmonton:
  780-408-5465 (LINK)
• Calgary:
  403-943-5465 (LINK)

MyHealthAlberta is a Government of Alberta initiative in partnership with Alberta Health Services. The information and tools you will find on MyHealthAlberta were developed in consultation with health professionals and Albertans.

This website is a single place for you to go to find trustworthy health information and useful health tools, which have been reviewed and updated by Alberta’s health professionals, to make sure that it reflects our health standards and practices.

MyHealthAlberta will continue to expand be updated with useful health information.

Visit MyHealth.Alberta.ca to find out more about this valuable resource and how it can help you.

MyHealthAlberta will continue to expand be updated with useful health information. Currently, the website includes the following:

• Health A-Z 
• Healthy Living
• Tests and Treatments guides
• Medication guides
• Health services
• Health Alerts
• Decision tools
• Health checkup tools

Your local pharmacist can:

• Renew your prescription for current, ongoing therapy to ensure treatment is not interrupted. For example, if you regularly take medication for high blood pressure but can’t get to your original prescriber before it runs out, your pharmacist may now renew that prescription. They will notify your original prescriber and arrange for follow up.
• Assess symptoms of minor conditions, such as coughs and colds, and either offer treatment (some pharmacists can now prescribe and all pharmacists can advise you on non-prescription medications) or refer you to the most appropriate treatment location.

Pharmacists also offer a wide range of services that can help you and your family maintain good health and avoid emergency situations, including:

• help you with over-the-counter medications
• provide you with information on how to properly store and take your drugs
• review your medications to ensure all the medications you are taking are necessary and dosages are appropriate
• give you advice on non-prescription and natural health products (such as herbal remedies)
• monitor and help manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, or high blood pressure
• design weight loss and smoking cessation programs

This is only a partial list of what pharmacists can help you with. Get to know your pharmacist – the more they know you, the more they can help.

Learn more about the range of services your local pharmacy can offer at the Alberta College of Pharmacists website.

Family doctors are the best option to get medical care and continuity. They will:

• diagnose and treat most medical issues
• provide periodic health exams
• supervise chronic illness and mental health issues
• provide referrals to other medical consultants and specialists if needed

Hours vary. Some clinics offer visits for urgent situations if you need to see a doctor right away.

For after hours care, please ask your family doctor about your best option. There may be after hours availability, or if your doctor belongs to a Primary Care Network, after hours options are often provided.

Need Help Finding a Family Doctor?

Use the online tool provided by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta or call HEALTHLink Alberta.

Many family physicians in Alberta are part of a Primary Care Network (PCN). A PCN generally includes a group of family doctors working together with a team of other health professionals such as nurses, dieticians, pharmacists to provide care to a defined group of patients.

PCN’s work to provide programs specific to the needs of an area. Services offered by some PCN’s might include complex chronic disease support and unattached patient clinics. Some PCN’s also provide after hours options.

Today, Alberta has 38 Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and another five in development.

Find the PCN nearest you.

If you don’t have a family doctor, some communities have walk-in clinics that often don’t require an appointment. Walk in clinics are staffed by family physicians. Many have extended hours into evenings and weekends, providing another option for after hours care.

Health Link Alberta can provide advice on after hours care if you are not sure where to go.

This is an option for minor health concerns such as sprains, minor cuts, minor pain, ear infections, and flu symptoms.

Call HEALTHLink Alberta or consult your Yellow Pages directory.

What is an urgent care centre?
Urgent care centres provide extended hour access for unexpected but non-life-threatening health concerns that require same day/evening treatment. Patients coming to urgent care centres may arrive on their own, or be transported there by ambulance.

Urgent Care teams typically consist of nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians. An urgent care centre is also supported by an on-site laboratory and x-ray department.

Hours of operation vary depending on facility. Please check for operation times and locations.

When to visit an urgent care centre
For serious and life-threatening health concerns always go to your nearest emergency department, or call 911. Visit an urgent care centre for illnesses or injuries that require same day/evening treatment but are not life-threatening. If you are unsure if you should be visiting an urgent care centre, call HEALTHLink for advice.

Common conditions treated in an urgent care centre include:

• broken bones
• sprains
• cuts
• asthma
• dehydration
• pain
• infections

What role do urgent care centres have in our health care system?
The role of an urgent care centres is to provide a transitional step of health service between community physician offices and hospitals.

Urgent care centers have a broader and deeper range of services than physician clinics, but are not equivalent to emergency departments. They also help conserve emergency room resources for more serious, life-threatening conditions.

Coordination between Emergency Medical Services (EMT) and Urgent Care Centres means more ambulances are being safely diverted at the point of dispatch from emergency department destinations to Urgent Care Centres. This helps to decrease demand on emergency departments and ensures the appropriate patient is receiving care in the appropriate place.

Airdrie Regional Health Centre
604 Main Street S,
Airdrie

Cochrane Community Health Centre
60 Grande Boulevard,
Cochrane
Telephone: 403-851-6000

Health First Strathcona
80 Chippewa Road,
Sherwood Park
Telephone: 780- 416-6551

Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre
11 Cimarron Common,
Okotoks
Telephone: 403-995-2600

Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre
1213 4 Street SW,
Calgary
Telephone: 403-955-6200

South Calgary Health Centre
31 Sunpark Plaza SE,
Calgary
Telephone: 403-943-9300

If you are concerned that you are seriously ill or injured, go to the nearest Emergency Department. Patients with potentially life-threatening conditions should immediately phone 911.

Emergency Departments provide access for patients suffering from life threatening to minor conditions.

Emergency is not a first-come, first-serve system. Critical patients are attended to first.

Find your nearest Emergency Department.

See an updated length-of-stay statistics from Edmonton and Calgary emergency departments.

There are many other health care programs and services available for various health care needs, such as: public and community health centres, cancer clinics, physiotherapy, and many others.

Learn more.