Department of Medicine Faculty of Medicine

Infectious Diseases

Infectious Diseases wait times

Triage category	Standard wait time	Average wait time*
Emergent	Immediate	No data
Urgent	3 days	3.0 days
Semi-Urgent 1	14 days	5.6 days
Semi-Urgent 2	56 days	32.3 days
Non-Urgent 1	84 days	71.1 days
Non-Urgent 2	140 days	71.5 days

View as a chart [PDF - 20 kB]

* Posted January 31, 2019

Updates

Our fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. Average wait time information is updated based on the following schedule:

Quarter	Time frame	Posted
Q1	Apr 1 – Jun 30	Jul 31
Q2	Jul 1 – Sep 30	Oct 31
Q3	Oct 1 – Dec 31	Jan 31
Q4	Jan 1 – Mar 31	Apr 30

Triage criteria and referral process for physicians

Triage category	Triage criteria (not all inclusive)	Referral process	Facilitators
Emergent	Meningitis Malaria	Call 902-473-2220 Ask for "ID Physician on call"
Urgent	Acute febrile illness NYD Acute febrile illness with focus Fever in traveller	FAX referral marked URGENT	Provide direct number to contact referring physician Requested blood work (see below)
Semi-Urgent 1	Pulmonary TB	Fax or mail referral	Provide direct number to contact referring physician Requested blood work (see below)
Semi-Urgent 2	Chronic fever NYD (> 4 weeks) HIV Infected foot ulcer Latent TB in immune compromised host Recurrent C. difficile	Fax or mail referral	Provide direct number to contact referring physician Requested blood work (see below)
Non-Urgent 1	Mycobacterium avium infection Post-Lyme symptoms Recurrent cellulitis	Fax or mail referral	Provide direct number to contact referring physician Requested blood work (see below)
Non-Urgent 2	Chronic HBV Chronic HCV Chronic diarrhea Immigrant screening Latent TB in immune competent host Recurrent HSV/VZV Recurrent UTI	Fax or mail referral	Provide direct number to contact referring physician Requested blood work (see below)

Contact information

	Office
Phone	902-473-5553
Fax	902-473-7394
Mailing address	Division of Infectious Diseases 5820 University Avenue Room 5014 Dickson Building Halifax, NS B3H 1V7
ID physicians	View list of physicians

Requested blood work for referral to Infectious Diseases

Category	Requested laboratory tests
Malaria	Malaria smear; CBC & diff; lytes, BUN, Cr, alk phos, glucose
Acute febrile illness NYD	CBC & diff; ALT, AST, total bili, alk phos, GGT, BUN, Cr, CK; urinalysis; aerobic blood C/S x 2; CXR
Acute febrile illness with focus	CBC & diff; ALT, AST, total bili, alk phos, GGT, BUN, Cr, CK; urinalysis; aerobic blood C/S x 2; CXR; cultures from focus where appropriate
Fever in traveler	CBC & diff; ALT, AST, total bili, alk phos, GGT, BUN, Cr, CK; urinalysis, aerobic blood C/S x 2; CXR, malaria smear OD x 2; HBsAg; Stool for C/S x 1
Chronic fever NYD (>4 weeks)	CBC & diff; ALT, AST, total bili, alk phos, GGT, BUN, Cr, CK; urinalysis; aerobic blood C/S x 2; CXR; take temp BID until appt & bring temp record to appt
Chronic HBV	HBsAg; HBeAg; ±HIV; HCV; total HAV Ab (not IgM); CBC & diff; INR/PTT; ALT, AST, total bili., alk phos, total protein, albumin
Chronic HCV	HCV serology; HBsAg & Ab; HAV total Ab; CBC & diff; INR/PTT; ALT, AST, total bili., alk phos, total protein, albumin
HIV	CD4; HIV viral load; CBC & diff, blood chemistries; HBsAg & Ab; HCV; toxoIgG; RPR
Chronic diarrhea	Stool O&P x 3 (different days); stool C/S x 1
Recurrent UTI	Recent urinalysis + urine C/S
Recurrent HSV	Nil
Latent TB (positive PPD)	CXR – PA + lateral
Post acute infection fatigue	CBC & diff; ALT, AST, total bili, alk phos, GGT, BUN, Cr, CK; urinalysis

Learn more about our division: View the Division of Infectious Diseases

Department of Medicine
Dalhousie University & Nova Scotia Health Authority
QEII Health Sciences Centre, VG Site
Suite 442 Bethune Building
1276 South Park Street
Halifax, NS B3H 2Y9
902-473-2379