Dr. Yip reviews all referrals personally and triages them appropriately. The wait time for routine referrals could exceed 12 months. However, urgent referrals are often seen within weeks depending on the exact nature. While waiting for an appointment can be frustrating, Dr. Yip will often provide guidance to your referring physician on treatments that could be trialed while you are waiting.
Please do not contact our office regarding the status of your referral. Instead, we ask that you contact your referring physician’s office (i.e. family doctor, etc) to inquire as we send updates to them regarding your status.
We are open 8 AM to 4 PM from Monday to Friday, however on certain clinic dates, we do extend our hours of operation. Our clinic is closed on weekends and statutory holidays.
Dr. Yip is located within the Chinook ENT Surgeons unit (6700 Macleod Trail SE, Unit 150. Calgary, AB) and we share a space with the Hearing Loss Clinic. The clinic is located in the Sovereign Centre and adjacent to the Spence Diamonds. We are also kitty-corner from Chinook Mall.
Phone calls may not be picked up during clinic. We encourage patients to contact us and leave one message on our voicemail. Our office staff will return your call as soon as possible. Please do not contact our office multiple times and/or leave multiple voicemails, as this will result in further delays in returning your call.
Dr. Yip is a rhinologist and endoscopic skull base surgeon, which means he primarily manages conditions of the nose, sinuses and anterior skull base. Please refer to our page on “Conditions Treated” to find out more.
At this time, our office requires a referral from another healthcare provider (ex. Family doctor, nurse practitioner). You can refer to our “Conditions Treated” section for more information and criteria for referral for specific conditions. Please note that we do not accept walk-ins.
You may refer to our patient resources page to find out specific information on pre-operative and post-operative care for your specific surgery/procedure. If there is a question that you cannot find in this section, please contact Dr. Yip’s surgical coordinator at (403)764-4755 ext 4.
Dr. Yip will often review with you the signs and symptoms that should prompt you to go to the Emergency Room. However, if there is something you are concerned about and it was not discussed, please contact our office and our staff will provide guidance at their earliest convenience.
The answer to this depends on the urgency of your medical condition, type of procedure, and your medical history. This is typically discussed with Dr. Yip at the time of your consultation or re-assessment/follow-up appointment.
Because of the space constraints of our clinic, we ask that patients only be accompanied by one other family member, friend, or personal support worker. If you are accompanied by your children, we kindly ask that you leave strollers in your car or in the front of our clinic. If other family members or those within your circle of care wish to join in on the assessment, they are free to join virtually (i.e. over phone, FaceTime, etc).
Please note that we do not allow pets into our clinic other than guide dogs. Emotional support animals are not permitted.
If you miss your confirmed appointment, there will be a $200 cancellation fee to rebook and your appointment may not be rescheduled until 6+ months later.
Dr. Yip will usually review red flags (i.e. concerning signs and symptoms) for you to monitor for, and provide direction on how to manage them appropriately. This may involve contacting our office to relay a message to him, or going to the nearest emergency room. If you do go to the Emergency Room, the ER physician will often contact Dr. Yip or one of his colleagues, but we encourage you to notify our office of your ER visit.
If you wish to see Dr. Yip for another issue, we ask that you have your family doctor or another physician send us a new referral. Because of the subspeciality/specific nature of Dr. Yip’s practice, he may have a narrower scope of practice compared to other otolaryngologists/ENT surgeons, and therefore may not be able to address your other concern. However, he will make recommendations to refer to another specialist (if appropriate).
Please have your pharmacy fax us a referral request and we will address it accordingly. Sometimes, Dr. Yip may need to follow-up with you before providing refill(s).
For the fairness of all patients, please arrive at least 10 minutes before your scheuded appointment, as we strive to run on time. If you are more than 10 minutes late to your appointment, you will be rescheduled to avoid inconveniencing other patients. Please note that Dr. Yip only offers a limited number of appointments per day.
We ask that all new patients arrive at least 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment to allow time for parking and the completion of any paperwork (i.e. questionnaire).
During your initial assessment, Dr. Yip will take time to learn about your symptoms, condition, prior testing, prior procedures/surgeries and relevant medical history. He will also complete a comprehensive head and neck examination. Afterwards, he will counsel you on your condition and/or further testing that needs to be performed.
We kindly ask that you bring your valid health card, and a list of medications and supplements that you are taking in order to ensure your medical record is up to date.
To be on the safe side, we ask that our patients expect the appointment to last up to 2 hours from their scheduled time.
