GPSO
Grande Prairie Surgeons Office
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I make an appointment without a referral?
As we are a specialist office, GPSO will need to have a referral from your family doctor or a walk -in-clinic physician before an appointment can be made for you at our clinic.
2. Where do the General Surgeons perform endoscopic and surgical procedures?
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Grande Prairie Regional Hospital - Endoscopic and surgical procedures
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QEII Ambulatory Care Centre in Grande Prairie - endoscopic procedures
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Sacred Heart Community Health Centre in McLennan - endoscopic procedures only
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Northwest Health Centre in High Level - limited endoscopic and limited surgical procedures
3. Once the General Surgeon has received your referral from a refering body, what happens?
a) Surgical Procedures:
Our staff will contact you to set up an appointment to have a consult with the surgeon. If you require surgery you will be asked to fill out an Operating Room (OR) form before you leave our office. This information will then be forwarded to the OR Booking Office at the hospital.
The OR Booking Department at the hospital (GPRH in Grande Prairie or Northwest Health Centre in High Level), will then contact you for a surgery time and date and any other information needed prior to surgery. We do not book any surgeries from our office.
Please be aware that you may be put on a waitlist depending on the severity of your condition.
b) Bronchoscopy, ERCP, EUS, Sigmiodoscopy and Endoscopic Procedures:
If your family doctor has sent a referral to our office for any of these endoscopic procedures, you will not need an appointment at our office. The surgeon will review the referral and your referral will then be triaged according to severity and sent to the Out Patient Department (OPD) Booking Department at the hospital to then be booked. The OPD Booking Department at (theGPRH in Grande Prairie, the QEII Ambulatory Care Centre in Grande Prairie, the Sacred Heart in McLennan, or Northwest Health Centre in High Level) will contact you for a time and date and any instructions needed prior to your procedure. We do not book any procedures from our office. Please be aware that there may be a waitlist and each surgeons waitlist may vary.
4. Hernia Mesh Recalls
Recently there have been a number of articles in the news about the recall of various types of synthetic mesh used in the repair of different types of hernias. Examples of these types of recalled mesh include Kugel Composix Mesh, Alloderm Mesh, Physiomesh Flexible Composite Mesh,
and Atruim CQUR Hernia Mesh. In some cases, there are also class action lawsuits that have been launched or are being launched against the manufacturers of the mesh products.
We would like to reassure all the referring physicians and patients of the GPSO that we have never
used any of the types of mesh listed above, nor any type of mesh that has been involved in a mass recall for being defective or potentially harmful.
Rest assured that your safety and health are our top priority and we will continue to offer advanced
and progressive treatments using only time-proven techniques and materials.