Need a family doctor? For urgent cases, they’re now taking calls through 811 – CBC
Program expanded to patients who need urgent but not emergency care
Oct 07, 2024
Sarah Duncan thought her daughter’s elbow might be broken.
The teenager had been playing volleyball and diving on the hard gym floor. Now the arm was stiff and swollen, but with a strange red mark.
Duncan couldn’t check with her family doctor because it was Saturday. She didn’t think she needed to visit the emergency, and she generally avoided calling 811 because phone conversations with the nurses had not been helpful in the past.
Still, she tried again and was taken by surprise — they gave her a virtual appointment with a real doctor.
“811 worked out perfectly,” she said afterward. “The nurse when we first called 811 and the doctor were incredibly reassuring.… The turnaround was super fast. I would say probably within an hour to an hour and a half, we were completed with the doctor.”
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/811-virtual-care-doctors-alberta-1.7342798
