Booking an Appointment

In British Columbia, patients require a referral from an MSP enrolled physician or nurse practitioner to see a specialist and have the cost of the visit covered by the BC provincial Medical Services Plan (MSP).

Your primary care provider will need to send us a referral request. Upon acceptance, the clinic will contact you to setup an appointment (typically 2 months before your appointment date) when an appointment space is available.

We are unable to see walk-in patients, patients without a referral, or patients without an appointment.

Current Wait Times for Dr Cook

NOTICE REGARDING DR. COOK's ADULT WAIT LIST LENGTH
Last Updated March, 2024

Due to current lengthy wait times, Dr. Cook is not currently able to accept non-urgent adult referrals. Dr. Cook will continue to accept referrals for the following urgent concerns:

  1. Venom allergy
  2. Complex drug allergy, or de-labeling of penicillin allergy
  3. Patch testing for allergic contact dermatitis
  4. Immunodeficiency

Our current expected wait times for new patients are as follows:

  1. Routine Adult
    1. 28 to 36 months
  2. Routine Pediatric
    1. 24 to 28 months
  3. Urgent Patients
    1. Certain clinical situations will be seen on an accelerated timeline.

If you are a new patient in the wait queue, and feel that your symptoms are significantly worsening, and you do not yet have an appointment booked with us, please see your primary care provider for reassessment. We are unable to accelerate appointments via phone or e-mail.

Accelerating Your Appointment

We are unable to accelerate appointments via phone or e-mail. If you are a new patient in the wait queue, and feel that your symptoms are significantly worsening, and you do not yet have an appointment booked with us, please see your primary care provider for reassessment.

Confirming Your Appointment

You will be contacted via email, text, or phone (based on your preference), by our automated confirmation system, 5 business days before your appointment to confirm with you that you are still able to attend your appointment. If we don’t hear back from you after 3 calls, texts or emails, or within 48 business hours of your appointment, we will release your appointment to another patient.

Cancelling Your Appointment

Your scheduled appointment time is reserved just for you. 2 business days notification is required for cancellations which allows us time to book another patient from the waiting list into this spot. There is no charge for rescheduling or cancelling an appointment at least 2 business days prior to the appointment time.

As we book appointments approximately 2 months in advance, if you cancel your appointment we will not be able to immediately re-book you.

Missed Appointment

A missed appointment is when you fail to show for a scheduled appointment without notifying the clinic or when you cancel without sufficient notice.

A $75 missed appointment fee, payable at the next clinic visit, will be charged for all missed appointments, or appointments cancelled or re-scheduled within 2 business days of the appointment time.

As we book appointments approximately 2 months in advance, if you cancel your appointment we will not be able to immediately re-book you.

Attending Your Appointment

Detailed instructions for your appointment will be provided to you over the phone. Dr. Cook’s patients will receive emailed instructions at the time your appointment is booked. These instructions can also be found here.

The government has recently instituted a new process called an “implicit re-referral” to minimize the burden of appointments and paperwork for patients, primary care providers and specialists. This process only applies to patients who had their first appointment with the specialist or were referred AFTER July 1st 2023.

A new referral may be required in the following situations where you, or your child have been seen previously at the clinic:

  1. You have a new concern that is different from the original reason for referral.
  2. You have the same or a similar concern;
    1. And have been discharged with care returned to the primary care provider.
      OR
    2. Based on the case the specialist feels that a full consultation with complete review of the health history is warranted. Most often this is because a significant amount of time has elapsed since the previous visit.

    Where an implicit re-referral is not valid, we strive to obtain re-referrals behind the scenes directly between medical offices. In situations where we are unable to obtain a re-referral, we let the patient know so they can obtain one directly from their primary care provider (family doctor, nurse practitioner, walk-in clinic, virtual clinic such as Telus Health MyCare, or Tia Health.

Re-Referrals

Co-Parenting Through Medical Issues & Appointments

Option 1

One parent attends appointments with the child and communicates the plan to the other parent. Both parents follow the plan for care. Either or both parents are welcome to attend each appointment with the child. No forms are required. This option is very straightforward. 

Option 2

For parents having a difficult time co-parenting (ie. if parents cannot be in the same room together or if they are disagreeing about management of their child's medical issues or if there is a safety issue, etc.) and both parents are wanting to be involved in their child's medical care, both parents will have to be made aware of all appointments and attend ALL medical appointments. For this type of situation, one parent will attend with the child and the other parent can attend remotely. There is no cost for this option, however, appointments cancelled at the last minute, by either parent, will result in a cancelled appointment and a $75 cancellation fee will be required to re-book the appointment (to be paid by parent who cancelled). 

Parking

A limited number of parking spots are available at the clinic. There is no charge for parking.