Private Pediatric ENT Specialist - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

indes · 07-05-2023, 08:12 AM

I was wondering if anyone has used a private ENT before. We've been on a waitlist for our 2.5 year old for 5 months and have now been told it could be another 3 months until we get a consult then god knows how long to get surgery.

This is our second time where we can't give her anymore antibiotics for 3 months and she's on ear infection 7 in the last 6 months and 10 in the last 8.

I haven't been able to find a private place in Alberta that will do pediatric surgery so thought I would reach out and see if anyone else has tried this route.

EldrickOnIce · 07-05-2023, 08:28 AM

Can't imagine the stress on your family. Hope this gets resolved somehow soon.

Social medicine is no good

NuclearFart · 07-05-2023, 08:55 AM

Are you asking if there are private pay ENT services in Alberta for a tympanostomy? If so, the answer should be no. There are some rare exceptions (eg. MRI), but as a rule physicians cannot receive private pay for a procedure already covered under the public system.

nfotiu · 07-05-2023, 09:07 AM

My wife ( who works with little kids) was just saying the other day that kids aren't generally getting tubes anymore like they used to when my kids were younger. I guess studies like this are saying the benefits don't out-weigh the risks. https://www.upmc.com/media/news/0512...ear-tubes-nejm.

bizaro86 · 07-05-2023, 09:11 AM

I think if you want a private pay option for that you'll need to go to the US, which increases the cost substantially.

I know the Mayo Clinic location in Scottsdale has a sort of "1 trip" policy for many things, where they'll do the consult and the surgery in quick succession so you can fly down once.

indes · 07-05-2023, 10:45 AM

Thanks for the info, it's been a tough road - we just had one 3 weeks ago, did antibiotics, verified it was completely gone and here we are again.

The waiting to see a specialist is awful. One of our friends who's a nurse recommended we go to the children's hospital next time as they have ENTs on staff so we're probably going to go that route instead of to our pediatrician.

Ashartus · 07-05-2023, 11:41 AM

My son needed to see an ENT specialist ~10 years ago, at the time we were told there (at least back then) were only 2 ENT specialists in Calgary so not surprising it isn't easy to get an appointment. We got in relatively quickly via the Children's Hospital but it was a time-sensitive issue.

puckhog · 07-05-2023, 01:51 PM

Sorry that you and your daughter are going through this.

My only thought is to check if there’s a cancellation list and, if so, make sure you’re on it. We’ve been waiting for a paediatric allergy consult for our daughter for a few months. When I called to check on the status I was told it would be another couple of months, but possibly shorter if we could make it in on short notice for cancellations. Once we got on that list, we got in pretty quickly.

Yours sounds much more severe (especially with potential surgery) so I’m not sure if that would be available, but it might be worth a shot.

Weitz · 07-05-2023, 03:02 PM

Short of knowing anyone to help you jump the line, I’d start going to children’s and see if you can get in quicker that way.

Minnie · 07-05-2023, 03:59 PM

I hope you can find something/someone soon. We went through this for years with my daughter and then my grandson. He had issues with his tonsils and adenoids too - had his surgery the end of March, and they put tubes in his ears as well, during that surgery. Your wait time is ridiculous, his surgery wait time for my grandson was only about 6 weeks once they decided to do it.

Fuzz · 07-05-2023, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indes

Thanks for the info, it's been a tough road - we just had one 3 weeks ago, did antibiotics, verified it was completely gone and here we are again.

The waiting to see a specialist is awful. One of our friends who's a nurse recommended we go to the children's hospital next time as they have ENTs on staff so we're probably going to go that route instead of to our pediatrician.

I finally got an appointment with an ENT 2.5 years after referral. Great system, eh?

Rutuu · 07-05-2023, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashartus

My son needed to see an ENT specialist ~10 years ago, at the time we were told there (at least back then) were only 2 ENT specialists in Calgary so not surprising it isn't easy to get an appointment. We got in relatively quickly via the Children's Hospital but it was a time-sensitive issue.

That can't be a real statistic...as a Canadian I can believe it...

We had a person working for us last year where both her parents were ENTs in a city a little smaller than Calgary (not the US either).

50% of the people I knew in Engineering easily could've been specialists and surgeons. A shame that engineering graduated hundreds a year and the medical school was under 100.

looooob · 07-05-2023, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutuu

That can't be a real statistic...as a Canadian I can believe it...

We had a person working for us last year where both her parents were ENTs in a city a little smaller than Calgary (not the US either).

50% of the people I knew in Engineering easily could've been specialists and surgeons. A shame that engineering graduated hundreds a year and the medical school was under 100.

I think the stat (which would have been correct roughly a decade a ago) is there were 2 PEDIATRIC ENT surgeons in Calgary. numbers are currently lower than ideal for reasons unrelated to politics/healthcare systems etc

(quick search of CPSA site- 31 ENT surgeons - adult or pediatric in Calgary)

Fuzz · 07-05-2023, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutuu

That can't be a real statistic...as a Canadian I can believe it...

We had a person working for us last year where both her parents were ENTs in a city a little smaller than Calgary (not the US either).

50% of the people I knew in Engineering easily could've been specialists and surgeons. A shame that engineering graduated hundreds a year and the medical school was under 100.

Currently in the Calgary zone there are 10 doing procedures, but only 5 have done over 20 this year. Which is less than one a week! Why? Are they too busy, or is it AHS not paying for more? It's ridiculous. But many also have private practices where they do cosmetic surgery, and I presume they are doing more than one a week. The whole system is a joke being played on us. In April 2022 they did 248 procedures. This April? 85. Something is ####ed, and I think it's us.

http://waittimes.alberta.ca/WaitTime...e#WaitTimeInfo

looooob · 07-05-2023, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Currently in the Calgary zone there are 10 doing procedures, but only 5 have done over 20 this year. Which is less than one a week! Why? Are they too busy, or is it AHS not paying for more? It's ridiculous. But many also have private practices where they do cosmetic surgery, and I presume they are doing more than one a week. The whole system is a joke being played on us. In April 2022 they did 248 procedures. This April? 85. Something is ####ed, and I think it's us.

http://waittimes.alberta.ca/WaitTime...e#WaitTimeInfo

I don't pretend to understand that site (although it's interesting) or how complete the data collection is- but that search I think is just for nose procedures , (and hence alot of those listed names are plastic surgeons I think?) , guess you would have to click through each category to get the full scope of the ENT surgeon- I agree the numbers might still be underwhelming?

Fuzz · 07-05-2023, 06:33 PM

Ya, it doesn't explain the big drop though. Or the long long waits.

Ashartus · 07-05-2023, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by looooob

I think the stat (which would have been correct roughly a decade a ago) is there were 2 PEDIATRIC ENT surgeons in Calgary. numbers are currently lower than ideal for reasons unrelated to politics/healthcare systems etc

(quick search of CPSA site- 31 ENT surgeons - adult or pediatric in Calgary)

Yeah sorry I meant pediatric ENT surgeons.