Changing Clinic Hours

April 12, 2023

Dear Valued Families,

We are once again asking for your patience and understanding. Due to staff shortages in our clinic, similar to what other facilities in our area and beyond are experiencing, our clinic is temporarily changing our hours of business in order to provide optimal care with the resources we have.

This article https://bit.ly/42Cw5Te written by Stephen Ross Johnson for US News and World Report states it most clearly, “Whether due to labor costs, illness or burnout, the long-term ramifications of current health care workforce shortages are likely to be felt well after the pandemic ends.”

East Portland Pediatric Clinic is busier than ever and may have to reschedule appointments more often than we have in the past. We are still doing our best to accommodate all of our patients, but we’re asking (again) for patience and understanding when we cannot.

We have been humbled by the overall understanding and kindness of our patients and families, especially in the last few years, and will continue to provide the high-quality care that you expect. We are optimistic that once we are fully staffed, we will be able to return to our previous level of operations.

A few things we want to share with you:

•  Phone Hours: Effective May 1st, Monday through Friday, we will answer phones from 8am until 5:30pm. Our phones will be turned to the answering service for staff and provider lunch breaks from 12:30-1:30pm. If you have an urgent call during that time or outside of phone hours, the answering service will notify the physician on call. We will continue to offer some appointments on Saturdays with phones being answered from 9:00am to 12:30pm. On Sundays, the on-call physician is available for urgent calls.
•  Patients under 12mos: We recommend that well visits are scheduled a few months in advance to get the appointment times that suit your schedule.
•  Scheduled Well Patients: No longer need to call from the Parking lot. Please just report to suite 30 for in-person check in.
•  Scheduled Sick Patients: Continue to call from the car once you arrive so we can make sure there is an exam room prepared for you.
•  Please allow extra time for parking and well exam paperwork. We encourage you to request/print and fill out any appointment paperwork in advance via the patient portal!
• Utilizing the patient portal for non-urgent requests will help our clinic to triage the urgent matters more quickly and complete your requests in a timely efficient manner. If you have not signed up yet, please give us a call!
• Visit our website Resources tab https://eastportlandpeds.com/resources/ for answers to your questions regarding pain reliever dosing, AAP symptoms checker and more… For your convenience, you can also find fillable Sports and Release of Information forms on the website.

Sincerely,
The Physicians and staff of East Portland Pediatric Clinic