During regular business hours, we recommend calling whenever you have a medical question. We have five wonderful nurses who are available to answer your calls throughout the day. If you need to speak to a clinician, we return calls during lunch, between patients, or after office hours.

After hours and on weekends, our physicians are on call until late evening, and then calls are taken over by Pediatric Nurse Triage, a practice of pediatric nurse practitioners affiliated with Mass General Hospital for Children. We ask that you reserve after-hours calls for urgent concerns.

Deciding when to page the pediatrician after hours can sometimes be a difficult decision. The following are some helpful guidelines:

Before paging the physician on call or calling after hours, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this an issue that can wait until regular business hours?
• Is this issue sufficiently addressed on the Hyde Park Pediatrics website?
• Is this issue sufficiently addressed in the handouts given out on routine visits?
• If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you probably should wait and call during normal business hours.

Other calls that should wait until normal business hours include the following:

• Routine medication refills.
• Routine appointment scheduling.
• Your child is having chronic issues that haven’t changed.

If you are still uncertain, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I worried about my child’s appearance or symptoms?
• Is my child’s problem getting worse?
• Might my child require medication that will impact his or her health?
• Do I think I need to go to an emergency room?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you probably should page the physician on call.

There are two situations in which you should bypass the physician and call someone else:

• Your child is in acute distress → Call 911.
• Your child has ingested a chemical or medication → Call the Poison Control Center (617) 232-2120.