To make a medical or dental appointment, please be ready to provide the following information:

• Patient’s name and date of birth
• Your name (if you are calling for the patient)
• A current phone number where you can be reached
• Whether the visit is urgent, routine or follow-up
• For medical appointments, name of the patient’s Primary Care Provider (PCP)
• Patient’s insurance information, if any
• Whether the patient will need an interpreter, and, if so, for what language

When you have all of this information, please call to schedule an appointment:

• Bellingham: (360) 676-6177

Appointment Information

• Write the time of your appointment on your calendar.
• Make sure you have transportation to and from the clinic. Medicaid patients can arrange transportation 48 hours in advance by phoning the Northwest Regional Council’s toll free number: 1-800-860-6812.

Appointment Cancellations and “No-Shows”

It is very important that you keep your scheduled appointment.

If you must cancel or reschedule your appointment, please call us right away, or at least 24 hours in advance, at (360) 676-6177. You may leave a message at that number after hours too.

Sometimes the check-in line is backed up. Be sure to give yourself a lot of time. If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, it may be too late to get you in. You will have to reschedule for anther time.

If you miss more than three (3) appointments without letting us know at least 24 hours in advance, you may be dismissed from care at ICHC.

What to Bring to Your Medical or Dental Appointment

• You must bring your medical coupon, private insurance card, and minimum payment for each visit.

Also Important for Medical Appointments:

• Bring us the medications you are taking. Many patients find it easy to simply bring all prescriptions and over the counter medications in a bag.
• The name, address or phone number of other doctors you are seeing or have seen recently.

Information on Questions Asked at Check-in

ICHC receives grants to help keep the cost of our services down. These grants allow us to offer more services. In order to get the grants, and keep the grants, we must report information about our patients. It includes:

• Income information
• Household size
• Race & ethnicity
• Age
• Housing information

We do not report this information about individual patients. We report the information on the clinic as a whole.

Follow-Up or Re-Check Appointments

Follow-up appointments are brief visits for us to check the progress of treatment or test results. Please make every effort to keep your follow-up appointments.

Patient Follow Through

You play an important part of the healing process. When you are given instructions (such as prescription usage, home health care treatments) it is important to follow them. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your PCP or dentist.

Giving Permission for Care

For most medical care and all dental services, patients under 18 years of age need a parent or legal guardian with them to give consent for care.

Washington State law allows people under age 18 to consent for certain types of care. Diagnostic and treatment information for these services will be kept in strict confidence. We will not share this information without the patient’s permission.

• Age 14 and older may seek care for sexually transmitted disease (STDs) including HIV.
• Age 13 and older may seek care for inpatient or outpatient drug and alcohol treatment services.
• Age 13 and older may seek care for mental health treatment.
• Any age may give consent for birth control and reproductive care.

ICHC providers encourage young people to talk to their parents or guardians about their health.

A Note to Parents

Our medical and dental staff will do everything possible to help your child have a positive experience during their visit. You can help too. Tell your child good things about coming to ICHC. Please do not use a medical or dental visit as a threat.