Breastfeeding Support

Offers support to clients with questions or concerns about breastfeeding. Specialized nurses help to prevent and manage common breastfeeding concerns, such as:

• assisting parents with basic position and latch
• poor latch
• inadequate milk transfer
• nipple or breast pain

Can also provide strategies for lactating and breastfeeding if a parent:

• needs to be separated from the infant
• has twins, triplets
• premature infants
• infants with medical concerns

Child Car Seat Education Clinics

Clinic teaches the proper procedure to install child safety seats in vehicles.

Clinical and Metabolic Genetics Program - South

The Clinical Genetics team provides genetic assessment, screening, diagnosis, genetic counselling, and treatment (when available).

The Inherited Metabolic team provides diagnosis, lifelong treatment, monitoring, education and support for individuals and families impacted by metabolic conditions.

Both services focus on patient and family centred care and, as well, are actively involved in research to best support quality care for patients and families.

For additional information related to the specific services offered by Clinical Genetics Subspecialties please search directly for;

• Cardiogenetics Clinic
• General Genetics Clinic
• Genetic Connective Tissues Disorders Clinic
• Hereditary Cancer Clinic
• Inherited Metabolic Disorders Clinic
• Neurogenetics Clinic
• Prenatal Genetics

Genetic outreach centres, located in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer, have genetic counsellors available to see patients and families closer to home. In cases where a geneticist MD is required, a geneticist from Calgary travels monthly to all sites to provide medical genetic consultations.

For more information visit the Clinical & Metabolic Genetics website.

Fluoride Protection for Toddlers

Children only need to have a few teeth to start getting fluoride. Applications are given 4 times, once every 6 months. For eligibility information visit our website.

At the appointment:

• The child sits on their parent's lap while staff apply fluoride on the child's teeth using a brush, which takes less than a minute.
• The child can eat and drink right after the treatment.
• The fluoride sticks to the teeth and protects them. It slowly wears off when the teeth are brushed.

If the child has asthma, bring his or her asthma reliever medicine to the appointment.
This provincial prevention service is available in all AHS (Alberta Health Services) zones.

Immunization - Adult Services

This service provides routine immunization for adults. Suggested immunizations:

• a booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)(dTap) every 10 years
• dTap vaccine for pregnant women every time they are pregnant
• Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) for unprotected adults born in 1981 or later. Some adults born before 1981 may need this vaccine if they are at risk for hepatitis B (e.g. health problems, type of work, lifestyle, contact with the virus)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for adults up to and including age 26 years who did not get it in school.
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine for adults whose immunization records do not show the recommended number of doses of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccine.
• Chickenpox vaccine for unprotected adults
• annual influenza vaccine
• pneumococcal vaccine for all adults 65 years of age and older and adults with certain health problems
• shingles vaccine for adults 18 years of age and older who have had or are going to have an organ transplant

To find out which vaccines are recommended for you and to book an appointment for immunization, call your nearest community / public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community / public health centre is, you can call Health Link at 811. Bring any immunization records you have to the appointment, especially if you were immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization go to ImmunizeAlberta.ca, Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link.

Immunization - Infant and Preschool Services

Alberta Health Services provides routine immunization for infants and children across Alberta. Immunizations are free of charge for infants and children who live in Alberta.

Immunizations are recommended for infants starting at 2 months of age. Routinely recommended vaccines include: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenza type b, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal, pneumococcal, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chickenpox), and influenza.

For the routine immunization schedule, go to immunizealberta.ca.

Additional vaccines may be needed depending on your child’s health conditions or other risk factors.

Immunization is effective. Other than providing safe drinking water, no other health intervention works as well as immunization to reduce disease and death rates. Immunization protects whole communities. The more people who are fully immunized in a community, the safer everyone is.

Immunization is safe. It is much safer to get immunized than to get the diseases that vaccines protect against.

For more information, and to book an appointment, call your nearest community/public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community/public health centre is, call Health Link at 811. Bring your child’s immunization record to the appointment, especially if your child was immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization, go to immunizealberta.ca,Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link at 811.

Immunization - School Services

Each year, Alberta Health Services, Public Health reviews immunization records for students in grades 1, 6, and 9 to see what immunizations each student needs. A consent form is then sent home with an information sheet for each vaccine recommended for the student. No immunizations will be given in school without consent from a parent or legal guardian. Immunizations in this program include:

• Grades 1, 6, and 9: Any routine childhood and school vaccines that may have been missed according to a review of the students immunization record on file
• Grade 6: Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine for students who have not already completed a hepatitis B immunization series and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine
• Grade 9: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (dTap) and meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y, W-135) conjugate vaccine

Nutrition Services

Services provided may include:

• nutrition assessment and counseling for children. Topics addressed include allergies, growth, infant feeding (formula, introduction of solids and progression of textures), feeding children, and picky eating.
• group classes and presentations on general nutrution for all age ranges; prenatal, infant, and toddler nutrition, picky eating, and grocery store tours.

Office of the Medical Officer of Health

The MOH is responsible for:

• The overall health of Albertans
  monitoring and reporting (to the public and to the Health Authority Board) on the health status of the population. This is done through health and disease surveillance. Advocate for changes in policy that will improve the health of residents (e.g., smoking by-laws, bicycle trail systems, intersection safety and red light campaigns).
• Communicable Disease Control
  Works to control the spread of communicable diseases and manage outbreaks. Also responsible for STD and TB follow-up and control, and for infection control in the community.
• Safe and Healthy Environments
  Gives direction to Environmental Health service programs to ensure food safety, safety and minimum standards for housing, daycares, swimming pools, etc. and to programs that promote healthy physical environments.
• Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention
  Responsible for chronic disease prevention (heart disease, obesity, stroke) for injury prevention, healthy aging, and preventing low birthweight in babies

Medical Officer of Health | Alberta Health Services

Population Health Promotion Program

The Population Health Promotion Program (PHPP) provides services on an individual client basis as well as to high-risk groups and the broad community utilizing a population health approach. The population health approach focuses on the entire range of individual and community factors that determine health. The Key ”Determinants of Health” include: Income and Social Status, Social Support Networks, Education and Literacy, Employment and Working Conditions, Social Environments, Physical Environments, Personal Health Practices and Coping Skills, Healthy Child Development, Biology and Genetic Endowment, Health Services, Gender, Culture.

The overall goal of this approach is to maintain and improve the health status of the entire population, reduce the incidence of disease and injury, and to eliminate inequities in health status between population groups.

Services encompass a continuum of health action from pre-conception to old age. Specific strategies are in line with those described in the World Health Organization’s Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) and include:

• Developing Personal Skills
• Strengthening Community Action
• Creating Supportive Environments
• Building Healthy Public Policy
• Community Needs Assessment and Program Planning

The program links with Provincial Population and Public Health Programs to deliver a wide range of health promotion interventions, including:

• Oral Health Program
• Injury Prevention
• Tobacco Reduction
• Health Equity
• Poverty Reduction Initiatives
• Health Promotion Education
• Population Health Surveillance
• Low German Speaking Mennonite Community Health Representatives - act as advocates for LGSM clients and their families through interaction with the health care system and other community services

Prenatal Education

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we have cancelled prenatal and postnatal classes in Alberta Health Services, South Zone effective March 16, 2020 and until further notice. Unfortunately, we do not know at what point we will resume running classes.

Please contact 403-388-6668 (Lethbridge and area) or 403-502-8215 (Medicine Hat and area) with any questions and to arrange refunds as needed. In the meantime, please visit www.ahs.ca/prenatal for many online prenatal and postnatal resources.

Public Health Nursing

Services provided by Public Health Nurses may include:

• immunizations
• communicable disease control (including Tuberculosis)
• prenatal / postnatal education
• postpartum caregiver / newborn support
• breastfeeding support
• health promotion / disease and injury prevention services
• school health services

School Oral Health Services

Services are offered to eligible schools and may include:

• fluoride varnish, provided to kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2
• dental sealants, provided to Grade 1 and Grade 2

A child diagnosed with asthma must have their short acting asthma reliever medication with them to receive service.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Confidential services may include:

• birth control information, prescriptions and supplies
• no-cost birth control for those who qualify
• emergency contraception (e.g., morning after pill)
• STI, HIV, and syphilis testing
• STI treatment
• pregnancy tests
• pregnancy options decisions support (parenting, adoption, abortion)
• post abortion check ups
• general information and support after a sexual assault
• vaccine information (e.g., Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and HPV) and administration of provincially funded;vaccine for eligible clients

Not all services are available at all clinics. Contact a clinic directly to book an appointment.

For information about clinical services across Alberta visit our Website

Health promotion and education services include:

• sexual health educational presentations to various groups
• teacher support for the sexuality part of the Alberta Education Curriculum

Travel Health Services

The Edmonton and Calgary clinics are currently closed.

If you are seeking immunization services, please contact a private travel health clinic, your doctor or local pharmacist.

If you are a post-secondary healthcare student seeking immunization and / or a tuberculin skin test for your healthcare training program, please contact your educational institution to confirm if provincially funded immunizations are available through this institution. Alternatively, you can contact a private travel health clinic, your doctor or local pharmacist to obtain immunizations for a fee.

Please note:ROUTINE CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATIONcontinues to be offered through community health centres / public health offices, at this time. Please call your local community health centre/public health office, for information.

Tuberculosis Testing

Offers free tuberculosis (TB) skin testing to eligible Albertans. The Mantoux skin test is not recommended to diagnose TB.

Testing is done at public health centres throughout the province:

• North Zone
• Edmonton Zone
• Central Zone
• Calgary Zone
• South Zone

If you are not eligible for free testing but still need to be tested there will be a charge for the test.

For travel or work related TB testing contact the Travel Health Services in your area. With the exception of Edmonton, you would contact the Immunization Business Unit to have school or work-related TB skin testing done.