Addiction Services - Youth Outpatient Counselling

This service offers:

• individual and family counselling
• addiction screening, assessment and treatment
• referral services

Alberta Healthy Living Program - Calgary Zone

The Alberta Healthy Living Program (AHLP) offers health education classes, self-management workshops, nutrition counselling and supervised exercise for adults living with chronic (long-term) conditions. All services are offered by Zoom, by phone, and / or in person.
Health Education:
Adults 18 years of age and older can learn how to manage chronic condition(s) or disease(s) with our health education classes. Some class topics include:

• diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, obesity, chronic pain, COPD, celiac disease, osteoporosis, fatty liver disease, Parkinson disease, stroke, and more
• weight management, healthy sleep habits, meal planning, stress, grief, better breathing, and more
• grocery store tours and cooking demonstrations
• how to manage long-COVID symptoms

Search our Find Workshops and Classes table for a full list of classes available provincially. View our Education Guide for classes hosted by Calgary Zone.

Self-Management Workshops:
The Better Choices, Better Health® - Chronic Pain and Better Choices, Better Health® - Chronic Disease workshops are for adults living with a chronic condition and / or chronic pain and their support people. These 6-week workshops offer participants the opportunity to learn about the following:

• working with healthcare professionals
• healthy eating and weight management
• exercise and physical activity
• dealing with difficult emotions
• managing pain and fatigue
• better breathing
• problem solving
• communication skills
• getting a good night's sleep
• action planning and goal setting

Visit website for more information.

Supervised Exercise Program:
Do you have questions about how exercise can help you manage your chronic health condition? The Supervised Exercise Program will help you better understand the positive impact of exercise on managing your condition(s) and how to begin or modify an exercise program based on your symptoms and abilities. A healthcare professional will guide you through the program and help you develop strategies to overcome barriers to being physically active. You will be provided with opportunities to attend educational sessions, exercise in a supervised group setting, participate in health-coaching, and work on an action plan to continue exercising at home or in the community. Learn more about how our program can help you by watching this short video.
In addition to our online offerings, some of our group exercise classes are offered in-person out of several locations around the City of Calgary. All participants must have at least one chronic condition and live in Calgary Zone to be eligible for these services. Visit our supervised exercise website if you do not live in Calgary Zone to learn about supervised exercise services available in your area.

Nutrition Counselling:

Adults living with a nutrition-related health condition are eligible for nutrition counselling with a registered dietitian. Participants will be asked to attend a relevant health education class, if available, before booking a nutrition counselling appointment. Nutrition counselling appointments can be conducted either over the phone or in person.

Antenatal Community Care Program

Services include:

• daily (physical and psychosocial) assessment of patients in their homes or over the telephone
• fetal monitoring (non-stress tests) as ordered on referral
• 1:1 perinatal education and teaching about their high-risk pregnancy condition(s), and other health concerns
• teaching is provided about self-monitoring and when to seek urgent / emergent medical care
• nutrition services are offered 1:1 for general nutrition, weight issues, special diets, supplement review and food security issues
• referrals to community support resources as needed
• closed loop communication with the Most Responsible Healthcare provider (MRHP)

This service provides in home care for antenatal patients who might otherwise be cared for in hospital. Patients remain under the care of their own obstetrician, or family physician, or midwife (with OB consult).

See Appendix F: ACCP Only - Routine Nursing Standards, Prenatal Nursing Practice Manual for routine Antenatal Community Care Program (ACCP) care.

Child and Adolescent Addiction Mental Health and Psychiatry Program Community Clinics

The service offers a wide range of psychosocial assessment and family based treatment services to children 5 to 18 years with moderate to severe mental health issues. Therapy is short term, eposide care that is goal focused. Services include individual, family, and group therapy in a community clinic setting. Consultation with doctors and schools can occur if deemed necessary.

Community Pediatric Asthma Service

Non-urgent referrals for asthma education. In person or virtual education appointments for children and their families with mild to moderate asthma that includes a customized Asthma Action Plan for every patient. A breathing exercise (simple spirometry) for children 6 years of age and older will be scheduled as required.

Corrections Transition Team

Provides short-term case management and outreach support for soon to be or newly released provincial offenders. Services include support for connecting to:

• mental health treatment
• addictions treatment
• financial support
• community engagement
• employment supports
• affordable housing

Diabetes Centre - Endocrinology & Metabolism Program

Services provided:

• diabetes education / counselling with nurses, dietitians, or a pharmacist (topics include an overview of the disease, complications, medications, exercise, and nutrition)
• medication adjustment
• insulin pump therapy
• for information on the Alberta Insulin Pump Therapy Program (IPTP), visit the Diabetes Insulin Pump Therapy website
• pregnant with diabetes: refer to Diabetes in Pregnancy Clinic (DIP) at the hospital in which they’ll deliver
• referral to Diabetes Centre Calgary serves as indication to enact the Provincial Diabetes Medication Adjustment Protocol (HCS-296-01)

Early Childhood Program - Addiction & Mental Health

This service offer:

• in-person, telephone and virtual (Zoom) sessions
• parent-child relationship based therapy
• parent groups (i.e. Circle of Security, Child-Parent Relationship Therapy)

The first sessions of therapy with ECAP serve three purposes:

1. to better understand the challenges your child and family may be facing and the strengths you have to address those challenges
2. to ensure that our program is the right fit for your family based on your concerns and goals and
3. to make recommendations about programming options, which may include:

• an opportunity to more deeply explore the challenges and strengths of your child and family to better determine the support you may need. We may invite other professionals from our team (Speech-Language Therapist, Consulting Psychologist) into your care in order to best understand your child’s needs
• in-home, at our clinic, community, or virtual sessions with a Therapist to support you in further developing and understanding the relationship with your child to meet your goals
• in-person and virtual Parenting groups to develop a better understanding of yourself, your child and the relationship you have with your child

East Calgary Family Care Clinic

Along with your doctor or nurse practitioner, our team works with you to help you to improve your health. Together we can work with you to plan realistic changes to meet your health goals. Not a walk-in clinic.

Environmental Public Health - Water Sample Bottle Pick-up and Drop-off

Drinking water, beaches and swimming pool water can be tested. Chemical water sampling testing is available and looks for common chemicals and trace metals found in water. Bacteria water sampling tests water samples for indicator bacteria to ensure water is safe.

For additional information,

• Environmental Public Health - Drinking Water
• Sample Your Water - Environmental Public Health
• Testing your drinking water in Alberta

Health Information / Records Management

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

Hepatology Clinic

Offers medical services for people with hepatitis, including:

• assessment
• diagnosis
• treatment
• follow-up
• education

Immunization - Adult Services

This service provides routine immunization for adults. Suggested immunizations:

• a booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)(dTap) every 10 years
• dTap vaccine for pregnant women every time they are pregnant
• Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) for unprotected adults born in 1981 or later. Some adults born before 1981 may need this vaccine if they are at risk for hepatitis B (e.g. health problems, type of work, lifestyle, contact with the virus)
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for adults up to and including age 26 years who did not get it in school.
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine for adults whose immunization records do not show the recommended number of doses of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccine
• Chickenpox vaccine for unprotected adults
• annual influenza vaccine
• pneumococcal vaccine for all adults 65 years of age and older and adults with certain health problems

To find out which vaccines are recommended for you and to book an appointment for immunization, call your nearest community / public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community / public health centre is, you can call Health Link at 811. Bring any immunization records you have to the appointment, especially if you were immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization go to ImmunizeAlberta.ca, Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link.

Immunization - Infant and Preschool Services

Alberta Health Services provides routine immunization for infants and children across Alberta. Immunizations are free of charge for infants and children who live in Alberta.
Immunizations are recommended for infants starting at 2 months of age. Routinely recommended vaccines include: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal, pneumococcal, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chickenpox), and influenza.

For the routine immunization schedule, go to immunizealberta.ca.

Additional vaccines may be needed depending on your child’s health conditions or other risk factors.

Immunization is effective. Other than providing safe drinking water, no other health intervention works as well as immunization to reduce disease and death rates. Immunization protects whole communities. The more people who are fully immunized in a community, the safer everyone is.

Immunization is safe. It is much safer to get immunized than to get the diseases that vaccines protect against.

For more information, and to book an appointment, call your nearest community/public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community/public health centre is, call Health Link at 811. Bring your child’s immunization record to the appointment, especially if your child was immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization, go to immunizealberta.ca, Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link at 811.

Immunization - School Services

Each year, Alberta Health Services, Public Health reviews immunization records for students in grades 1, 6, and 9 to see what immunizations each student needs. A consent form is then sent home with an information sheet for each vaccine recommended for the student. No immunizations will be given in school without consent from a parent or legal guardian. Immunizations in this program include:

• Grades 1, 6, and 9: Any routine childhood and school vaccines that may have been missed according to a review of the students immunization record on file
• Grade 6: Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine for students who have not already completed a hepatitis B immunization series and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine
• Grade 9: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (dTap) and meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y, W-135) conjugate vaccine

Neonatal Transition Team, Postpartum Community Services

This community-based specialized service provides:

• support for the family following infant discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
• information about the infant's health, abilities and special needs
• regular assessments of the infant's health, growth and development
• support for breast, bottle and tube feeding
• guidance to enhance infant nutrition
• liaison with the infant's physician and specialists
• referrals to other services and community resources, as required

Newborn Jaundice Screening Program

This program provides comprehensive screening for jaundice in the newborn in both hospital and community locations in Calgary. Identifying babies early and reliably provides a high level of safety for newborn infants and reassurance and convenience for parents.

As part of this program nurses in the hospital and community use a device called a Transcutaneous Jaundice Meter to measures how yellow the baby is. This device uses a flash of light and the procedure is accurate, safe, quick and painless. If the reading on the device is high, a blood test will be done.

Nutrition Counselling - Pediatric

Services provided for:

• optimizing growth
• allergy and food intolerances
• iron deficiency anemia
• inappropriate diets for age
• eating and feeding difficulties
• nutrient deficiencies secondary to restricted diets

Patient Information

Services offered:

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

Pediatric Community Rehabilitation

Services support the development of children and youth to participate in meaningful activities of daily life at home and in the community. We want to understand what's important to your child and family. Services are goal-driven; starting and continuing services is based on having functional reasons / goals for rehabilitation. Therapists will work with parents to provide the tools and strategies to apply in the context of their home and life. Therapy may look like 'play', depending on your child's age. We will work together so you and your child are supported to move to the next developmental stage or between providers and services. Services are provided by phone, zoom and some in person sessions as determined by your therapist. They may be in a group or one to one. Services provided are related to (neuro) developmental conditions and / or medical conditions. Social Work and Registered Dietitian services are available to support rehabilitation outcomes.

Occupational Therapy 0-18 years services children and their families with self - care; motor development and eating, feeding and swallowing.

• motor development
• self - care
• participation in activities typical for their development
• eating, feeding and swallowing
• modifying the environment
• assistive technology
• mobility and positioning equipment

Physiotherapy 0-18 years services children and their families with development and movement.

• motor development
• movement and function
• torticollis
• mobility and positioning equipment

Speech Language Pathology 0-18 years services children and their families with communication and eating, feeding, and swallowing.

• communication
• pronouncing speech sounds
• understanding and listening to spoken language (0-5 years only)
• using words to communicate thoughts and ideas (0-5 years only)
• speaking smoothly and easily (stuttering)
• eating, feeding and swallowing
• using gestures, pictures, communication boards to communicate (augmentative & alternative communication, AAC)

We work closely with our pediatric rehabilitation partners to ensure referrals go to the right place and services are offered within the most appropriate program.

Perinatal Program - Addiction & Mental Health

Our clients come to us seeking support to cope with symptoms of anxiety or depression, grief, loss, difficulties related to their birth experience, among other challenges that are affecting their sense of wellbeing and journey into parenthood. Our goal is to support parents and young families from pregnancy through the early years of childhood. We offer short term intensive therapy in the home, at our offices or virtually for perinatal and postpartum anxiety and depression. We also offer group therapy including Perinatal Support Group, Skills for Life Group, among others. 

Postpartum Community Services

Services include:

• newborn assessments including checking for jaundice
• postpartum assessment for new mothers includes physical and psychosocial assessmetns including domestic violence
• support with infant feeding including lactation consultants to help with breastfeeding
• parenting information
• information about newborn care, safety, growth, and development
• referrals to social worker support as needed
• referrals to doctors and community services as needed

Prenatal and Parenting Classes (Perinatal) Education

This program provides interactive classes by Health Education professionals. Over 30 different classes are available including:

• Early pregnancy & nutrition for pregnancy
• Prenatal classes (including refresher and Vaginal Birth After C-Section classes)
• Perinatal classes spanning the end of pregnancy through early parenthood
• Prenatal classes for midwifery clients
• Prenatal Classes for young adults
• Car seat safety
• Baby health and safety
• Buying for Baby

To ensure that expectant and new parents receive the most accurate and up-to-date information all classes are based on current AHS and Health Canada guidelines.

Please visit our on-line class brochure for a further details.

Preschool Oral Health Services

Fluoride varnish helps protect your child's teeth from tooth decay (cavities). It slows down decay already started.

Your child needs four fluoride varnish visits, six months apart, to best protect their teeth. Fluoride varnish is painted on your child's teeth. It takes less than one minute to apply. You can hold your child during the visit.

You can also ask any questions you may have about protecting your child's teeth.

If your child is diagnosed with asthma by a doctor, bring their quick reliever medication to the appointment. If your child feels anxious with dental visits it may trigger asthma symptoms.

This provincial prevention service is available across Alberta.

For more information and eligibility, visit our website: Preschool Oral Health Services

Public Health Services

Community Health Centres provide a wide range of health services, which may include:

• Antenatal Community Prenatal Program (ACCP)
• Best Beginning
• Early Start Parent Drop In
• Postpartum Services
• School Health Program
• Well Child Services

Registration

Patient Registration registers:

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

School Health Program

This service offers:

• public health nursing to support all schools in the Calgary Zone
• public health nursing assists school communities with health resource navigation and partners with school communities to promote health and develop strong, supportive communities
• school aged immunizations through school-based programs. Routine immunization programs occur in grades 1, 6 and 9

School Oral Health Services

Services are offered to eligible schools and may include:

• fluoride varnish, provided to kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2
• dental sealants, provided to Grade 1 and Grade 2

A child diagnosed with asthma must have their short acting asthma reliever medication with them to receive service.

Southern Alberta Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prevention Program

Submission of the Risk Assessment form by a health care professional is required to determine a child's eligibility for palivizumab. Risk Assessment forms available on the RSV Prevention Risk Prevention Program website.

Switchboard

These services include:

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

Tuberculosis Testing

Offers free tuberculosis (TB) skin testing to eligible Albertans. The Mantoux skin test is not recommended to diagnose TB.

Testing is done at public health centres throughout the province:

• North Zone
• Edmonton Zone
• Central Zone
• Calgary Zone
• South Zone

If you are not eligible for free testing but still need to be tested there will be a charge for the test.

For travel or work related TB testing contact the Travel Health Services in your area.

Twin and Triplet Prenatal Nutrition Counselling

Women pregnant with multiples within the Calgary Zone will have the opportunity to access a dietitian for individualized nutrition counselling.

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.

Well Child Services

Provide appointments for:

• routine vaccination (2, 4, 6, 12, 18 months and 4 years of age)
• health education, health promotion and support for parents related to adjustment to parenthood, breastfeeding, infant feeding, nutrition and healthy eating, normal growth and development, etc.
• health assessment and screening to identify health concerns
• information and referral to community services, and community partnerships

There are 20 Community Health Centres (7 urban and 13 rural) across the Calgary Zone.