Office Policy

Mission Statement

A Federally Qualified Health Center providing full spectrum quality primary care in a culturally competent setting regardless of ability to pay.

Most of the telephone calls to the office will be handled by the staff. They can advise you on common problems and tell you whether it is necessary to bring the baby or child to the office. During office hours, the physicians try to give their undivided attention to the patients in the office. If you have a problem that the staff cannot help you with, the physician may not be able to talk to you immediately, but the doctor will call you when he or she is finished with the patients in the office. In this way, the doctor can the give his or her undivided attention to you and the needs of your child.

In order to provide the highest quality of care, our office works by appointments and the physicians and nurse practitioners always try to be on schedule. However, doctors are called upon frequently for emergency services that upset office hours. Also, sometimes a patient may require more than the allotted time, throwing subsequent appointments off schedule. Please be charitable and know that you or your child will be seen as close to the appointment time as possible.

Sick Appointments that are scheduled the same day may have longer wait times as we will be working you in between the regular scheduled appointments.

Pediatrics: For maximum benefit of all concerned, it is best if only the child who is being seen by the physician is in attendance in the exam room, with one or both parents. Our exam room facilities, although quite functional and pleasing as compared to many other medical offices, are still restrictive in the amount of space available for comfortable movement of the patient, family, physician or nurse practitioner and other necessary staff. Please ensure older sisters, brothers and extended family members (beyond parents) wait in the waiting room while your child is seen by the health care provider. For younger brothers, sisters and extended family members, we ask that you provide alternative care for the time during which your child is to be seen by cur office, such as by a babysitter or child care center.

Finally, it is very important that the person bringing the child into our office for an exam is an authorized adult. If a parent cannot be in attendance at the appointment, the responsible adult (preferably a relative versus a babysitter or non-family member) must bring a signed letter of authorization from the parent that clearly states that the accompanying adult is permitted by that parent to escort the child to the health care visit. Please contact our office with any questions you have regarding this common medical policy.

Please call our office and follow the automated instructions to talk to a staff member if you need a prescription refilled. Some prescriptions may also be filled by request on our Patient Portal. Some refills may require the patient to be seen before renewal.

One of the keys to reducing wait time is recognizing when a late patient must be rescheduled. We want to treat every family fairly, and no one should have to wait extra time because the patient before them was late. If you are more than 15 minutes late to yours or your child’s appointment, you may be asked to reschedule. While we will do all that is possible to accommodate requests, the first-available appointment may or may not be on the day the appointment was missed. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to call us to cancel if you cannot show up at your scheduled time.

Please call ahead if you are late or unable to make your appointment time. We will do all that we can to accommodate your child’s appointment and to minimize the need to reschedule your appointment.

Most managed care insurance plans require referrals from your primary care physicians before your child can be seen by a participating specialist. We require at least 72 business hours for processing referrals and are not allowed to back date any referral request.

Both you and your child will require many forms to be filled out over the years. Please give 72 hours to fill out the forms and return them to you. Forms require an up to date physical, so when calling the office please have them look into the date of your last physical. If labs are required you will need to give the provider 72 hours from the results coming in to complete the form.