Over the next month we’ll be transitioning to all indoor visits. Outdoor visits have been a mixed blessing but were never intended to be a long term plan. Outdoor visits are certainly not the standard of care utilized by other medical practices, especially with broader vaccination coverage and better awareness of hygiene and mitigation measures that can be employed safely- for both patients and staff alike.
All of the infectious diseases we see are potentially contagious- the COVID pandemic has just magnified this concern. For those that know us, I hope you see how we attempt to maintain as clean, safe and appealing office setting as much as possible.
We have thought long and hard how we can see all our patients- both sick and well - from babies through teens - in a safe environment and at times that are convenient for you. This is no small task for a smaller practice with space constraints that includes a separate newborn room and behavioral health space.
As such, we will certainly maintain our core protection factors- mask wearing for all of us > 2yo- all the time - inside our facility. Our waiting room will be open for well visits and vaccination patients. For all other appointments, patients will be asked to wait in their vehicle and will be lead directly to their room once it is ready. Enhanced cleaning measures are utilized. We ask that you limit the number of family members to as few as possible. We will follow CDC guidelines for cleaning precautions and will try to expedite check-in/check-out to minimize time inside our office.
We are adjusting our schedule and room usage to separate visit types as such as possible but also have appointment times available that can meet your needs. Thank you in advance for working with us - meeting all these needs is raising a high bar.
Some families may not be comfortable with these changes despite all our best measures to minimize risk. We understand but we need to push ahead. Outside car visits are just not feasible nor as comprehensive as we would like. All of our staff are very dedicated to helping you but are also stretched thin. Assisting in patient care in addition to running vaccine clinics, keeping our rooms clean and, of course, answering phone calls does not allow for detailed triage or phone problem solving. We will continue to employ telehealth as a visit option. We are not unique. The medical care system is very stressed - we’re trying to do a lot under trying circumstances.
I certainly hope that our families understand how hard we work to pull off all that we do and that a clean environment is a #1 priority- for all of us, understanding, however, that ultimately that is what medical practices do - take care of sick patients (and promote preventive care to keep all of us healthy)!
Let’s take care of one another!
Dr. Lee