Welcome to the Family Medicine Department at the Palo Alto Center. We are committed to provide high-quality, comprehensive care to patients of all ages. We look forward to working with you to help you and your family maintain the best health possible. The information below will help you obtain health care promptly and efficiently.

• Location and Hours
• Scheduling an Appointment
• Team Approach to Health Care
• PAMFOnline
• Urgent Needs: 650-321-4121
• Prescription Medication Refills
• Referral to Specialists
• Community Health Resource Center
• Patients with HMO or PPO Insurance

Location and Hours

Palo Alto Center
795 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Phone: 650-853-2984
Main phone: 650-321-4121
Map | Directions | Floor Plan

Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, for urgent visits only
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Scheduling an Appointment

We have adopted a new scheduling system, known as "Advanced Access," that improves access to your primary care physician. The results have been very gratifying both for our patients and for us.

We are committed to being able to offer you a same-day appointment every time you call, if that is your desire. Whenever possible, this appointment will be with your doctor, at times you may see other providers in our department.

In order to maintain this improvement, we need your help. Sequential scheduling throughout the day enables your physician to see you as urgent needs develop. Your support of this scheduling requirement is essential for timely access to your physician.

If you must cancel your appointment, please call 650-853-2984. After hours you will be transferred to our "cancellation line" to leave a message. Please give us as much notices as possible when you must cancel your appointment, at least 24 hours in advance, so that we can accommodate other patients.
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Team Approach to Health Care

Physicians and a family nurse practitioner staff the Family Medicine Department. Our doctors and nurse practitioner work as a team. Although you will select a primary care physician, at times you may see other providers in our department. Our Team Providers include:

• Christine Amara, nurse practitioner
  
• Daniel Alegria, M.D.
  
• Arthur Liu, M.D.
  
• John Cunniff, M.D.

Information from these visits will be given to your primary care physician.

If you need to be seen urgently but we are fully booked, we may refer you to our Urgent Care Center, located on the first floor of the clinic. Our Urgent Care Center is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., 365 days a year.

Please bring a copy of your immunizations and all of your prescription medications to each appointment, or bring a list of their names, doses and how often you take them. Please include over the counter and alternative or complementary medicines, herbs and supplements.
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PAMFOnline

Communicate with us electronically through PAMFOnline.

We invite you to sign up for PAMFOnline, our secure and private electronic tool, so that you may see parts of your medical record and communicate with us through email. Some services are free for all our patients; other services require an annual fee.

Thank you for choosing to obtain your health and medical care through the Family Medicine Department of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), Palo Alto campus. We look forward to working with you to maintain and improve your health.

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Urgent Needs: 650-321-4121

A family medicine physician is always on call, but please reserve your calls for emergencies. Clinic operators can reach the on-call physician 24 hours a day. Unless the problem is life threatening, please call us before going to an emergency room or another health care facility.

Life-Threatening Emergencies: 9-1-1
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Prescription Medication Refills

Please call the pharmacy where your medication was dispensed to request a refill. The pharmacy will call us and we will respond. If you have a specific question about a refill that you cannot address directly to the pharmacy, please call our reception desk at 650-853-2984. You will be asked to leave a voice-mail message with your provider's medical assistant. Please allow 24 - 48 hours for us to respond.

Prescriptions can also be filled by using our secure patient system called PAMFOnline.

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Referral to Specialists

List of Specialties

For most medical problems you should see your family medicine provider first. If the concern requires specialist referral, your primary care provider will make the referral and help to arrange your appointment if necessary.
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Community Health Resource Center

Community Health Resource Center
650-614-3200

The PAMF Community Health Resource Center provides free health information to the general public. It is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is staffed by a nurse educator, June Badal, R.N. and other trained health educators. You may browse, obtain pamphlets and on-line health information, borrow books and discuss your questions with the nurse on a drop-in basis or by appointment. The Center is located on the second floor near the main elevators. Here you can also learn about the many health education classes offered at PAMF.
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Patients with HMO or PPO Insurance

Since you have chosen PAMF as your primary medical group, you are required by your medical insurance to obtain all needed care through us. If we are unable to provide care that you need at PAMF, your physician here can request authorization for care from outside providers. Such care must be authorized in advance and in writing by the PAMF Utilization Management department. Your physician will submit this request, and then you will receive an answer on your approval status.
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