Office Hours:

Monday		8 am – 8 pm*
Tuesday		8 am – 8 pm*
Wednesday		8 am – 12:30 pm	1:30 pm – 6 pm
Thursday		8 am – 8 pm*
Friday		8 am – 12:30 pm	1:30 pm – 6 pm
Saturday		8 am – 12 pm	Sick appointments only
Sunday		9 am – 12 pm	Sick appointments only
*We try to reserve the 5-8 pm time for sick visits.

Appointments:
Appointments for physical exams and consultations can be made by calling 6 to 8 weeks in advance.  (The suggested checkup schedule is listed later in this booklet.)  We strive to see acutely ill patients the same day you call.  Naturally, it helps to call early in the day if you wish your child to be seen that same day.  If you are unable to keep your appointment or are going to be late, please call us as soon as possible.
Our clinic can accommodate some requests for a specific doctor if the doctor is following a specific problem with your child.  We feel it is important for you and your child to become familiar with all the doctors at some time.  We are able to accommodate more patients if requests are kept to a minimum.

After Hours:
Occasionally, your child may become ill after regular office hours.  Questions that arise after hours related to minor, non-life threatening illnesses, general medical questions, requests for laboratory test results and prescription refills should be deferred until regular office hours.  Non-emergent issues are best addressed during regular office hours when our nurses may access your child’s medical record and/or consult with one of our physicians if necessary.
If you feel that your child’s symptoms require emergent attention that cannot wait until morning when the office re-opens, you may call our after hours service for advice regarding the appropriate management of the problem.  You can reach the after hours nurse triage service by calling our office at (231) 935-8822; they are able to contact the doctor on call.  Our physicians share after hours call with the physicians at Kid’s Creek Children’s Clinic (Drs. Michael Eldredge, Cynthia Smith, and Karla Smith). 

Weekdays:
We schedule physical examinations, consultations, well-child checkups, and provide prescription refills on weekdays only.  We also schedule same-day sick-child visits on weekday mornings and afternoons.  Our appointment phone opens at 8:00 am, and we begin seeing patients at 8:15 am.  On Wednesday and Friday, we are closed from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, and then are open again until 6:00 pm.  On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we are open straight through from 8 am to 8 pm.  Services not requiring an office visit (prescription refills, advice about minor illnesses, request for transfer of records, etc.) can be done by telephone, 8 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday.

Weekends:
We maintain limited office hours by appointment only on Saturday and Sunday mornings as a convenience for our acutely ill patients and newborn hospital follow-up visits.  The receptionist is available to make appointments at 8:00 am Saturday and 9:00am Sunday.  Patients are seen from 9:00 am to Noon on Saturday and from 10:00am to Noon on Sunday.  No appointments are made in advance for Saturday or Sunday.  These hours are only for newborn hospital follow-up and for recent-onset acute illness such as earaches, sore throats, urinary tract infections, severe high fevers, etc.  These hours are not for long-standing or mild illnesses such as prolonged colds, prolonged intestinal flu, diaper rash, etc.  These less serious, milder, long-standing problems are more appropriately handled on weekdays when we have our full office staff available.  This is also true for prescription refills, nursing advice, etc., as we have only one physician and one receptionist as our entire staff on weekend days.

Nursing Staff - Telephone Calls:
The phone nurse is available to answer questions between the hours of 8 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 5 pm (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and 8 am to 8 pm (Tuesday and Thursday).  The nurse has been trained with protocols approved by the doctors to assist you with questions.  The phone nurse will relay information about your child to the doctors if we ask that you report on your child’s condition.

Receptionist:
Our receptionist will be happy to assist you in making appointments and answering questions about billing.

Office Manager:
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please inform our office manager Leeann so that we may better serve you and your child.