STANDARD APPOINTMENTS SERVICE:  Regular scheduled appointments are available at all our current office locations (Cordova, Perdido and Pace) Monday through Friday, 8:50 AM to 4:50 PM.

EARLY MORNING HOURS SERVICE:  This service is available to all our patients, but is intended to be especially helpful for working parents who arise to find an acutely ill child.  This is a walk-in clinic, no appointment necessary, at the Cordova and Perdido Office only, 7:30 AM to 8:45 AM, Monday through Friday only.  Complex or chronic problems cannot be handled at this time.

AFTER HOURS SERVICE:  Available at Cordova office only, this service is available by appointment for Monday through Friday evenings (5:50 PM until last requested appointment) and Saturday mornings 8:45 AM to 12 noon.  Office care is also available Sunday afternoons by personal communication with our physician-on-call.  This service is also designed to care for the acutely ill child, but a limited number of weekday evening appointments are reserved for well child care and chronic problems.  For Sunday afternoon care, we recommend that you call the doctor prior to 3 PM.  There is a sub charge for After Hours Service.

IMPORTANT:  In order to sign the required informed consent for immunizations, PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN must accompany a child receiving immunizations.

APPOINTMENTS

  Appointments can be made by calling any of our office locations during our Standard Appointment Services hours.  We utilize an automated Telephone system at our Cordova Office, our busiest location.  A receptionist will speak with you to make the appointment, but you will initially be greeted by a computer, which will place you on hold in the order your call is received.  There may be a 1 to 4 minute wait before your call is handled.

  We shall make every effort to make an appointment with the doctor of your choice.  Since all of our doctors see patients at 2 of our office locations, you may be able to see the doctor you want sooner by making an appointment with that doctor at an office location different than the one you usually use.  Most of our patients have developed a first choice and a second choice doctor, which allow them the ability to see one or the other at the location of their choice, at the time most convenient to them.

  Believe us, we try to stay on time.  Human illness and concerns being what they are, it is difficult to set aside precisely the amount of time needed.  If you are seen 20 or 30 minutes later than your appointment, we view this as reasonable.  Be sure to complain directly to your doctor if you feel you have waited unreasonably long; the Buck stops with him/her.

  Please try to come at your appointed time;  when four different patients appear at the same time (10 minutes late, 20 minutes late, on time, and 10 minutes early) it is nearly impossible to stay on schedule.  Occasionally an emergency at the hospital will delay a doctor or call him away from the office.  We always try to call patients with later appointments to reschedule them when this happens, but 3, 4 or 5 loyal patients may get stuck with a long wait.  If you do run late for an appointment, we will make every effort to fit you in, but patients on time for appointments will have priority.

  If you are unable to keep an appointment, please call to cancel.  An appointment you do not keep is an appointment that is not available to someone else's ill child.  Recurrent missed appointments may cause us to ask you to seek medical care elsewhere.

  VERY IMPORTANT:  Be sure to tell our nurses or appointment secretaries the exact reason why you want the doctor to see your child.  Any information that you share with any of our office personnel is kept confidential.  DO NOT request a CHECK-UP if you have a specific problem that you want the doctor to address.  It is possible to discuss a problem and to have a check-up, but we need to know this ahead of time, so that adequate time is allotted.  Otherwise, either the problem or the check-up may have to be deferred until a later time.  Also, please do not request a check-up at the time you bring your child into the office for a follow-up visit.  If you ask for a check-up at the time you make your appointment for follow-up, we can always accommodate you; however, we cannot do this on short notice.

  It is our desire to keep you happy.  We will always try to arrange an appointment with the doctor of your choice in Pediatric Associates.  There are those times when your doctor may not be available or may be fully appointed.  In these circumstances, we encourage you to try one of the other doctors in the group.  While our styles may vary, we all aim to please you.