Alberta’s Virtual MD program expands call service for children’s health, newborns

Province adding 8 pediatricians to service accessed through 811 and Health Link.

Virtual MD has handled more than 150,000 referrals since the program started in 2022. Pexels photo.

Jennifer Lee, CBC News Calgary May 28, 2026

A program designed to take pressure off Alberta emergency rooms and help people who may not have a family doctor is expanding to offer more support for children and babies.

Virtual MD, which is embedded within Health Link, has helped more than 150,000 Albertans since its launch in 2022.

When patients call 811, they’re triaged by a nurse or another clinical staff member and can be referred to a doctor who connects with them by phone or video call.

Virtual MD has more than 80 family physicians on its roster to assess, diagnose and offer medical advice. They can also direct patients who need more attention to the appropriate care.

In June, the program is set to start offering targeted support for children with the addition of eight pediatric emergency physicians, according to the program’s medical director, Dr. Genelle Dingeldein.

A further expansion is planned for this summer when Virtual MD will add care for newborns up to three months old. They are currently excluded from the program.

“They’ll be able to pick up red flags when these newborns do need to get care and get it quickly,” said Dingeldein.

“But in a lot of cases they’ll be able to… provide advice to keep these young children at home as well and avoid having to bring a newborn infant into an emergency department for an assessment.”

About 115 patients are referred to the Virtual MD program each day, according to Primary Care Alberta, the agency that runs Health Link.

Diverted from ER

“Very, very few people are told to go to emerg,” said Kim Simmonds, the agency’s CEO.

About 60 per cent of patients referred to Virtual MD are given advice on how to care for themselves at home, she noted.

Another 28 per cent are told to see a primary care provider or walk-in clinic, while 8.5 per cent are told to go to the emergency department. A small number are advised to call 911 or seek other help.

“People do not want to go and sit in emergency if they don’t need to. But the people who need to be in emerg don’t want to wait,” said Simmonds.

“So anything we can do to make sure that people are getting the right care at the right place is important.”

For example, Virtual MD will be able to assess children with fevers or kids who have fallen and their parents may have concussion concerns, according to Simmonds.

“All those things that kids do, people call to ask for help and then can be assessed by virtual MD to see if they need to go for urgent care or can stay home.”

Virtual MD is available from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day.

“We’re trying to make the system more accessible,” said Simmonds.

The pediatric expansion builds on a newborn support line that is already available through Health Link. A live online chat option was also recently added to the health advice service.

Jennifer Lee, Reporter

Jennifer Lee is a Senior Reporter for CBC News based in Calgary. She covers health stories for CBC’s web, radio and video platforms. If you have a story to share, let her know.

Source CBC News Calgary