Outpatient Clinics and Activities
The Almonte General Hospital’s (AGH) outpatient clinics and activities provide specialized health-care services ranging from cardiology and neurology to oral surgery and orthotics - all close to home.
At AGH’s nine outpatient clinics, thousands of area residents a year see specialists in cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, general surgery, urology, plastic surgery, dermatology, orthotics, and oral surgery
The clinics also include the regional Day Hospital Program and a Pacemaker Clinic. Other outpatient activities at AGH include Laboratory services, X-ray services, Ultrasound services, Physiotherapy and Occupational therapy.
AGH’s outpatient clinics and other activities mean area residents can often get the specialized services they need without travelling to the city. As well, patients are often able to see a specialist more quickly at one of the Hospital’s clinics than they would if they made an appointment to see a specialist in the city.
If you are attending an AGH outpatient clinic, be sure to bring your Health Card and medical insurance information, your requisition form for any tests and your Almonte General Hospital card (if you don’t have one you will be given one when you check in).
Services provided at the outpatient clinics include initial assessment and diagnosis and ongoing treatment and follow-up. In the case of outpatient general, plastic and oral surgeries, the pre-operative appointments, surgery and post-surgical appointments are all carried out in the outpatient clinics. During the orthopaedic outpatient clinics, AGH physiotherapists are in attendance so they are well informed about any follow-up patient care required.
At the Pacemaker Clinic, patients have the batteries in their internally planted pacemakers checked on a regular basis. During this test, electrodes from a special machine are placed on the patient’s wrists and the machine is connected to a telephone line. Information about the pacemaker is transmitted over the phone line to the Ottawa Heart Institute, where staff check it to make sure the pacemaker is working properly.
Patients are referred by their family doctor to the outpatient clinics, which are held anywhere from once a week to once a month to once every four months, depending on the clinic. Medical specialists who staff the clinics come from the Ottawa, Queensway-Carleton, Montfort and Renfrew hospitals. The clinics are provided at no cost to patients, except for the orthotics clinic, which corrects malpositioning of the feet through shoe inserts that are custom-made for an individual’s feet. Custom foot orthotics are covered by many extended health care plans if prescribed by a doctor.
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