Pediatric acute illness

Even with the right preventative care, acute illnesses are common in young children. Children have less immunity to pathogens spread in our environment and can become sick more frequently than most adults. Fortunately, most of these acute illnesses are mild, and can be easily
remedied at home. When you are unsure how to treat your child, or if they need to be seen, we have a triage nurse 5 days a week who can provide advice for care at home, or can schedule an appointment with your provider for further support. Our triage nurse can help you determine if your child needs to be seen that same day. We reserve multiple appointments each day to account for same day sick visits, and have multiple point of care testing options available if your provider determines they are warranted, including rapid group A strep, flu, urine, and mono testing. If we are unable to see your child on the same day and feel they need to be seen, our team will help direct you to the closest pediatric urgent care, and will follow up with you and your child in our office to ensure they are recovering well.

There are a few signs that you should watch out for that may indicate your child needs immediate medical attention. If these occur, please call 911 or bring your child to the Emergency Room:

These include, but are not limited to:

Poor fluid intake or retention followed by low urine output and lethargy, difficulty breathing, inability to stay alert or aware of
surroundings, or fever that is not reducing.

A large portion of our office visits are left available for same day scheduling of acute illnesses and injuries. Our triage nurse is available during regular business hours to assist families with such needs, whether it be providing advice and reassurance for continued home treatment or scheduling the next available same day appointment. For uncommon circumstances that our site is unable to accommodate, we refer families directly to the nearest, conveniently-located Rady’s Children’s Urgent Care. We always do our best to honor families’ requests for specific providers and times, but we are not always able to guarantee accommodations for urgent appointments due to fluctuations in day to day schedules.

For non-urgent health concerns, our helpful staff can assist in scheduling a future appointment with a requested provider or at a time and day that is convenient for the family.

Outside of regular business hours, families can access a healthcare provider through our automated call back system for urgent health concerns. With a healthcare provider on-call 24 hours a day to attend to urgent health concerns, support is never more than a phone call away. Our medical team has years of experience managing and coordinating care of children with complicated medical needs, so no question is too big or too small. Simply give us a ring if you are concerned about your child’s health and need attention immediately.