For illness needing attention before the office is next open, call our regular phone number (704-384-1750), and you will be instructed how to get in touch with a triage nurse.

For after hours emergencies, call 911 if your life is in danger. You can always notify us and the insurance companies later.

A team of in-hospital specialists, Presbyterian Inpatient Care Specialists (PICS) will admit and care for all our patients in the hospital. They communicate with us about admissions and discharges, sending us copies of notes, and they have access to our records. We can discuss questions with them, and we believe the patients benefit by having hospital specialists dedicated to their care available all the time.

From any level of the deck, take the elevator to the first floor. Enter the lobby, walk around the information desk to the bank of elevators behind it. You may take any elevator to the third floor, and our office is to the right.

The parking deck for Midtown Medical Plaza has a main entrance off Randolph Road just east of Caswell Road. Another entrance is off Providence Road, again just east of Caswell. From either entrance, you may take the ramps up to find a parking spot. From your car, walk toward the building, and you will find elevators there.

The building is handicap accessible. Special parking spots are available in the first level of the parking deck as you enter off Randolph Road.

All lab results are reviewed by the physician or physician assistant as soon as they are available, generally the next day after ordering. Abnormalities of major significance are reported by phone at that time. Other lab results are then sent to be placed with the chart and are returned to the physician for reporting before 4 weeks have passed.

To avoid missing or misplaced results, please call us if you have not heard the result of a test by 4 weeks after the test was done. However, please do not call for results before 4 weeks have passed. We have found that calling for results delays reporting of a complete set of results because the chart is pulled out of the normal medical records flow.

Our policy is to ask you to fast for certain tests such as blood sugar or cholesterol, and we will tell you when to fast. For exams, we ask that you fast if your physical exam is scheduled before noon. If you have diabetes we want you to fast only if an exam is before 10 a.m. For exams after noon, eat normally that day. The term fasting means no food (you can have water) for 10-12 hours.

We want you always to take medicines before a visit, even if you are fasting. The exception is for diabetes. If you are fasting and have diabetes, do not take your blood sugar medicine.

We like our patients to know the names and doses of their medicines. To be sure of your regimen, please bring all your medicine bottles, including medicines from other providers and non-prescription medications and supplements, to your visits.

Certain medications may need to be omitted before a test; please ask your provider about that. Some stress tests outside the office ask that you consume no caffeine containing products for 24 hours before the test. The scheduler can tell you if your test is of that type. Wear loose fitting clothing and comfortable shoes that will allow you to walk vigorously on a treadmill.

Please follow the prompts provided for the fastest connection to the person who can assist your specific need.

After hours, you will be instructed to call 911 for a life threatening emergency. For urgent medical problems needing attention before the next business day, you will be instructed how to reach the Triage Nurse. For all other concerns (appointments, refills, general medical questions, etc.), you will be instructed to call the office the next business day.

Our after hours phone system is focused on dealing with urgent health problems. Refills, appointments, billing questions, etc. cannot be handled by the triage nurses, and we ask that you call the office the next business day. You may email us with a question at any time, just by clicking on "email us" or "contact us."

To release records to a specialist or another practice, we need your written permission. We have forms in the office available for that purpose. The process of transferring records is time consuming, and we ask for two weeks to complete that work.