Addiction and Mental Health - Domestic Abuse Response Team

Domestic violence can take many forms, including verbal, physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, spiritual, financial, and the violation of rights and can happen in any relationship that is based on intimacy, dependency, or trust. The Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) offers specialized support to patients of all genders who are experiencing any form of domestic violence. Individuals do not have to be in a crisis to access DART and can request a referral at select emergency departments, urgent care centres, and maternity units. Participation is voluntary.

DART services are provided while individuals are present within the Alberta Health Services (AHS) or Covenant Health facility and are confidential, nonjudgmental, and choice-based. Once the referral is initiated, a DART responder will connect with the individual either in-person or over the phone to conduct further assessment and provide the following services based on the their needs:

• emotional support
• information and education about domestic violence
• assistance with safety planning
• information about and referrals to local supports, including financial assistance, counselling, food bank, etc.
• assistance with contacting local law enforcement and / or Children's Services
• access to safe accommodations, including emergency shelter or hotel
• transportation from AHS or Covenant Health facility to safe accommodations
• follow-up support This service is provided by AHS and AHS contracted service providers.

This service is provided by AHS and AHS contracted service providers.

Adult Day Program

Provides up to 6 hours of wellness program. The program offers:

• activities, recreation, and exercises
• blood pressure and weight monitoring
• help with medicines
• basic personal care
• rest breaks
• meals and snacks

Anaesthesia Services

This service provides:

• anaesthesia for surgery;
• anaesthesia for diagnostic imaging and oncological procedures;
• acute relief of pain after surgery;
• treatment of chronic pain

Cafeteria Services

Cafeteria services offer food and beverages at Alberta Health Services facilities. Catering services and vending machines are available at some sites. Each cafeteria services site team is dedicated to creating great food, inspiring healthy eating, and providing outstanding customer service to support the health of Albertans.

**Please note hours of operation may vary from site to site.

Calgary Rural Diabetes Program

This service may provide:

• diabetes education/counselling in a classroom setting
• one-to-one appointments with nurses and dietitians, which include an overview of the disease, complications, medications, exercise, and nutrition

Cardiac Diagnostics - Holter Monitoring

Offers heart rhythm monitoring services to help assess heart rhythms. Clients wear a portable monitor for 24 or 48 hours. The monitors are small and lightweight, and can be worn outside the hospital as clients do their normal everyday activities. Clients must not bath or do water-based activities.

Monitors must be returned at the scheduled time because they need to be processed and prepared for next client.

Cardiology - Electrocardiogram Services

Provides ECGs to diagnose possible heart conditions. Cardiologists and the Internal Medicine department reviews the results and sends a report to the referring / ordering doctor.

Community Physiotherapy

Service is provided to clients who meet the following inclusion criteria:

• resident of Alberta
• valid Alberta personal health care number (AB-PHN)
• functional rehabilitation goal(s)
• rehabilitation readiness, including: medically stable; physically able to participate in intervention, cognitively able to participate

Exlusion criteria includes:

• WCB and MVA injury related concerns
• multi-disciplinary pain management
• currently recieving / recieved physiotherapy from another program or provider
• children/youth developmental delay support

Computed Tomography

Computed tomography, also known as "CT Scan" or "CAT Scan", is when pictures of the body are taken using radiation and computer-enhanced imaging.

Continuing Care Services

This service provides care using a collaborative model. The department aims to:

• maintain and promote independence and health
• prevent illness
• ensure dignity and individual self-worth

It maintains an interdisciplinary team approach with residents and their families and provides an environment that encourages physical, psychological and spiritual well-being as well as continuity of care through the coordination of resources and services.Provides long-term residential care, including:

• nursing and personal care
• physical, occupational or recreational therapy
• pharmacy services

Visit the Alberta Health Services Continuing Care website for more information.

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program

Alberta's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program is a provincial screening program that identifies permanent hearing loss as early as possible in a baby's life. This ensures that babies and families receive timely follow-up and support sooner to optimize developmental outcomes.

Services include:

• Screening babies for hearing loss by 1 month of age
• Diagnosing permanent hearing loss by 3 months of age
• Ensuring access to intervention by 6 months of age

For more information, visit our website

Emergency Services

If you have an emergency, call 911.

Emergency departments:

• take care of people that are very sick or injured on a priority basis. This means the sickest people are seen first. If you go to an emergency department for care that isn't urgent, you will not likely be seen right away.
• provide medical care, which includes assessment and treatment
• stabilize people and get them ready to transport to a higher level of care facility (if needed)
• provide follow-up care including referrals to a family doctor or specialist (if needed)

Emergency Department wait times are now available for Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.

Get the right care when you need it, to learn more visit Know Your Options

This service may be impacted by the COVID pandemic. View the Hours of Operations to see if the location has been impacted. Visit https://ahs.ca/covid for up-to-date information.

Endoscopy/Colonoscopy Services

Offers endoscopy procedures for gastrointestinal concerns, which may include:

• endoscopy
• colonoscopy
• sigmoidoscopy
• esophageal motility study
• endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) Foothills Medical Centre and Peter Lougheed Centre only
• double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) Foothills Medical Centre only

General Medicine - Inpatients

Offers care on an inpatient basis including assessing, diagnosing, and treating many types of medical problems.

General Radiography (X-Ray)

General Radiography uses x-rays to produce images of the structures inside the body, particularly bones. X-ray beams can pass through the body, but they are absorbed in different amounts depending on the density of the material they pass through.

General Surgery - Inpatient

Provides inpatient care for people after surgery.

General Surgery Unit

Cares for people before and after general surgery procedures.

Gynecological Surgery

Cares for women after they have had gynecology surgery (e.g., hysterectomy, bladder repair, for cancer).

Health Information - Access and Disclosure

In accordance with Alberta's Health Information Act, this is a service which enables the release of individually identifiable health information with or without the consent of an individual.

For detailed instructions, frequently asked questions and forms, please visit Access & Disclosure | Alberta Health Services.

Health Information / Records Management

Completes patient charts, collects data, data entry and coding, collects patient information, dictates notes, and transcribes inpatient and outpatient charts.

Hospitals

To access contact information and a list of services offered, select a hospital.

Search through a complete list of progams and services, or hospital and facility information with the following:

Find Healthcare:

• Progams & Services
• Hospitals & Facilities

Indigenous Hospital Liaison Services

This program provides support and health information to healthcare providers, Indigenous patients / clients and their families through personal visits. Ask your healthcare provider for more information about Alberta Health Services policy to allow spiritual ceremonies.

Specifically, this includes:

• case management
• patient advocacy
• cultural teaching
• patient / client language interpretation
• health literacy support
• logistical support for discharge planning for Indigenous people

This service is available on-site in hospitals, public health centres and in the community. Upon request, staff can be present at hospital rounds, medical appointments and case conferences. This program will communicate with the healthcare team to ensure provision of culturally sensitive healthcare service.

Patient / client language interpretation service is also available upon request.

Patients and clients may also be asked about their healthcare experience to help ensure they receive the best possible healthcare.

Laboratory Services

For information on service restrictions or to book an appointment, visit APL Appointments & Booking.

Laboratory Services provides collection of blood and body fluids for tests ordered by your doctor or healthcare provider including a comprehensive range of routine and specialized lab testing and clinical consultations:

• blood and body fluid sample collection
• biochemistry and toxicology
• electrocardiogram (ECG)
• genetics and genomics
• urinalysis
• transfusion medicine
• hematology
• coagulation studies
• microbiology
• public health testing
• serology
• surgical pathology
• cytopathology
• autopsy pathology
• student practicum training for medical lab technologists and medical lab assistants

Note: Some locations may not offer the full range of testing. To confirm availability of a specific test, contact the location.

Labour and Delivery Services, Postpartum and Newborn Care

24 / 7 care for pregnant women and newborn babies, which includes:

• assessment and treatment
• referrals to other healthcare providers
• labour and delivery support
• vaginal deliveries
• c-section deliveries
• postpartum care
• care for pregnancy complications
• breastfeeding support
• teaching as needed
• discharge planning
• grief counselling

Lactation Services

Offers breastfeeding support to:

• women who have breast problems (e.g., sore nipples, yeast, mastitis, abscesses)
• babies with tongue-ties, yeast, latching problems, or failure to thrive
• pregnant women who need counselling because they are carrying more than 1 baby, have nipple concerns, had breast surgery, had concerns with breastfeeding other children or need support

A breastfeeding resource for doctors and healthcare providers, also offers teaching to medical students, residents, and nurses about breastfeeding.

Lost and Found Services

Provides a contact point for people who have lost items at the facility.

Medical Cardiology - Inpatients

Medical Cardiology inpatient unit that serves a patient population that traverses the life span to include young adults, middle adult and older age groups. Admissions include but are not limited to:

• patients with abnormal heart beats
• congestive heart failure
• pre and post heart transplant
• heart attack
• pre and post cardiac catherization
• pacemaker and other device implants just to name a few

Mental Health Urgent Care

This service provides psycho-social assessments and support on an outpatient basis.

Urgent mental health services are available with no appointment through the Urgent Care department.

Urgent Mental Health conditions may include:

• depression
• anxiety
• thoughts of suicide or harming oneself
• overwhelming stress
• addictions
• other situations that cause a person to be in crisis

Orthopedic Services - Inpatients

A multidisciplinary team provides care for orthopedic patients including:

• care for orthopedic trauma patients
• care for total joint replacements
• care for orthopedic spine patients
• cancer care for the orthopedic patient

For more information visit our website.

Patient Email Well Wishes

As part of our support for patient care and comfort, friends and family of inpatients at hospital and health care facilities can send well wishes via email. Sites participating in the program will receive the message, will ensure that the message is only "well-wish" (any other type of communication will be deleted) and will arrange for delivery within 3 business days. A couple of important reminders - the electronic delivery system is not a secure connection, so please don't add any confidential information to your message. Plus the "well-wish" system does not allow for replies or confirm receipt / delivery confirmation.

Patient Food Services

Patient Food Services overarching objectives are to:

• Offer quality food and food choice, to support Patient Centered Care
• Work with the whole care team to ensure that Food Matters
• Foster a positive meal experience that results in enjoyment of meals, as well as improved satisfaction and food intake that supports recovery
• Provide menus that are based on “Canada’s Food Guide” and that are adaptable for therapeutic requirements
• Offer appealing food that encourages eating for health
• Provide meal service styles appropriate to the patient population (e.g. tray service, dining room service) and meal delivery systems that support safe high quality food served at appropriate temperatures to the correct patient / resident

PFS delivers more than 31,000 patient/resident meals each day within AHS facilities.

Patient Information

Services offered:

• responding to patient location inquires
• providing direction on a patients whereabouts

Registration

Patient Registration

• registers and pre-registers patients and collects demographic and financial information.
• registers patients for inpatient admissions, ambulatory clinic appointment, and emergency department services

Social Work Services

This service works individually with patients, groups and/or families to:

• conduct assessments and develop interventions to alleviate social and personal problems
• identify needs and gaps and connect patients with community supports and resources
• empower patients to cope and problem solve during or after injury, disease or illness
• assess and treat of a range of addictions and/or mental illness issues
• counsel patients and their families in coping with aspects of an illness, hospitalization and the impact of lifestyle choices on health
• assist patients and families to navigate the healthcare system and address legal and financial issues impacting care

Spiritual Care Services

This Service Provides spiritual and emotional support for patients, families and staff as an integral part of the multidisciplinary care team that works within the health care system to assess and address spiritual care needs, which may include:

• spiritual assessment and intervention
• facilitating rituals and sacraments (e.g. sweet-grass, sacrament of the sick)
• decision-making support and supportive care for patient and family at end-of-life
• collaboration with religious leaders at patient's and / or family's request
• serving as a resource to care team on topics such as communication, religious and cultural awareness, grief and bereavement, compassion fatigue, and spiritual needs assessment
• daily 24-hour (on-call) coverage at most acute care centres

Chaplains adhere to professional standards of practice for spiritual care delivery.

For more information visit our webpage

Switchboard

These services include:

• answering incoming telephone calls
• transferring telephone calls and
• giving out authorized telephone numbers

Transition Services - Acute Care

This service provides:

• effective and timely discharges from acute care
• promotion of joint hospital and community initiatives
• identification of patient flow
• identification of barriers for discharge
• collaboration with patient care managers, physicians, and support staff to facilitate timely discharge from acute care

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is an imaging test that captures images of soft tissue organs, blood vessels and tissues using high-frequency sound waves (no radiation). Ultrasound is also known as sonography.

Not all tests are offered at all sites. Call the location for more information.

Volunteer Resources

Our volunteer roles share a commitment to improving the quality of the patient and family experience.

Volunteers are:

• way-finders who help guide patients and families around our busy facilities,
• friendly visitors who spend time with our socially isolated patients,
• patient and family advisors who provide input and direction to AHS on numerous committees,
• supporters of our volunteer retail operations - where the proceeds are returned to AHS to provide patient care and comfort.

For general information about volunteering with AHS please visit our website.