Nearly half a year has passed since it’s opening in the community, and the new Cochrane Pediatric Follow Up Program aims to give families the proper care for their children.
The program is a service that operates directly out of the Cochrane Urgent Care Centre, which gives children in the community immediate follow-up care after an emergency room visit. The program runs Monday to Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
It allows families to connect with health specialists about their child’s condition, while also providing specialized care directly in town.
Prior to its opening, children who visited the Cochrane Urgent Care Centre would usually need to venture into Calgary if they needed follow-up care. Through support of the Cochrane and Area Health Foundation (CAHF), renovations on the program space were completed in May 2024.
Trustee for the Cochrane and Area Health Foundation, Cinthia Zeer, explained that this new process streamlines pediatric patient care since families can get their appointments upon being referred through a physician after a visit at the Cochrane Urgent Care Centre.
“It improves it phenomenally, and it’s not something our foundation thought of,” Zeer said. “This is something that Urgent Care really needed, and our foundation put it together for them."
Additionally, if a child who visited the Alberta Children’s Hospital lives in Cochrane, they can also receive follow up care in town.
The space itself is operated by Urgent Care staff, which means this doesn’t incur a huge additional cost to Alberta Health Services.
“It’s actually just a quicker way for the kids to come back quicker, and be seen and followed up,” she said. “But we’re not spending a whole bunch of Alberta Health Services dollars staffing it independently. It’s within Urgent Care.”
This was the very project that the CAHF took on when it first formed, and it addressed the need to redesign the room for kids.
“Urgent Care assigned us a room, and we redesigned it to make it look more pediatric,” she explained. “When we told the community what we were doing, they were so excited, and they wanted to be so involved to help.”
Since their group had a very limited operating budget, Zeer said multiple individuals generously contributed to support their efforts.
Though the leadership of CAHF, with help from local artists and businesses, unique art and special improvements were made to make the space more functional and patient friendly. The renovations aim to enhance the care space for families, while also creating a calming environment for children receiving care.
“We had 19 different artists in the community come together and do artwork for it, and make it look pediatric,” she said. “We paid to purchase the necessary equipment because pediatric equipment is a different size than adult equipment, and they needed all of that. It’s just set up perfect for kids.”
In terms of the renovations itself, it includes updated seating, new paint and furniture, and art pieces donated by local artists.
Zeer said this is a vital component for the future of healthcare in Cochrane.
“We moved on it right away,” Zeer said. “We saw how important it was and how much value it could bring.”
