The secretary will call to confirm your appointment. If you’ve had a change of address or phone number, please call or email and update our information. The first visit tends to be longer-up to 45 minutes in some cases.  Subsequent visits are shorter, 10 or 15 minutes. Your respirologist always sends a letter to your family doctor.

The initial visit is about understanding your story and what the breathing issues, cough, etc. is all about.  Based on that visit, testing or treatments will usually be suggested. There can be different waiting periods for different tests and unless there is a specific urgency, your follow up visit will be after all tests have been completed.

We are struggling to manage wait lists for patients new and old. 

Our Doctors see adults and sometimes teenagers about respiratory problems from a large geographic area.

Canadian health care is known for its waiting lists. Specialist appointment requests are triaged and sorted by urgency.  For example, a suspected lung cancer would be seen very soon and a chronic cough may wait longer. Wait times vary by demand. If you feel your problem is urgent, ask your family doctor to speak with one of our Doctors directly.

Bronchoscopy is a day-care surgery procedure that takes about 15-30 minutes.  You will be at the hospital for about 2 hours.  You will need to come to the hospital with an empty stomach–that means nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before.  You may take your medications with a sip of water on the morning of your test. When you arrive you will check in at admitting.

You’ll be taken into the endoscopy area. You will get changed on top into a gown. An IV will be placed. Dentures will be removed. You will have a numbing agent sprayed in the back of your throat. Once you’re in the endoscopy suite, you will have a bite block placed. You will receive sedating medications. An oxygen mask will be applied. The physician will then perform the procedure.

The majority of patients will not remember their procedure. You will be taken from the endoscopy suite to the recovery room where you will spend approximately one hour.

The physician will have taken samples in most cases which will be sent off to the lab. The amount of time it takes to receive results varies depending on the test but the majority of test results will be available within two weeks.

Download Bronchoscopy Info Package

Depending on the problem, your doctor could also choose to refer to a different type of specialist. For example, for lung cancer, a thoracic surgeon or an oncologist. For sinus issues, ENT. For sleep, the sleep lab. For shortness of breath, an internist or cardiologist. Each of these doctors will have wait lists of their own.

Going for breathing tests or a bronchoscopy?

Head to NRGH – for directions see Google Map

Please allow extra time due to the construction of the Cancer Care Center.

We also order tests for people at the following care centres - Cowichan District Hospital (Duncan), West Coast General Hospital (Port Alberni) and Oceanside Medical Centre (Parksville). Not all tests are available at every centre, your doctor will send you to the appropriate centre for your testing.