We know that patients have a lot of questions and concerns with respect to the COVID-19 coronavirus, and I am reaching out today to share with you what we are doing to help keep you healthy, safe and comfortable when you are in our office with us. At this time we are prepared to open and prepared take all of the necessary precautions and follow CDC guidelines.
We are monitoring updates and recommendations closely every day and adjusting our policies accordingly. We assure you, we are taking necessary precautions.
We want to share with all of you that our office will not be offering testing or treatment for upper respiratory symptoms, given that we are not a primary care facility and do not see sick patients. We encourage all staff and patients to seek testing and care from a PCP / ER and other testing facilities (as they become available) if you are experiencing symptoms.
What we are doing:
- We are taking daily temperatures of staff and patients
- Family member and visitors are not permitted to attend appointments at this time
- Face coverings to be worn by all staff and patients
- Schedule adjusted to keep patient volume in office to a minimum
- Hand washing is vital to staff and patients and we have multiple restrooms and hand washing stations in our office, as well as in every patient room
- Hand Sanitizers for patient and staff use throughout the office
- Lobby surfaces are cleaned and sanitized down multiple times per day
- iPads cleaned and sanitized after each use
- Rooms sanitized between each patient
- Dirty laundry removed from rooms multiple times per day
- All employees are told to stay home/sent home if symptomatic
- Staff is using social distancing protocol (no handshakes, contact only for exam and procedures, etc)
- We are working to minimize your time in the lobby of our office, and will be rooming patients to private rooms as quickly as possible
- For the safety of our patients and staff, any patient/person entering our office that is experiencing symptoms will be asked to leave and see their PCP
What Can You do to Help?
We encourage our patients to:
- Reschedule your appointment if you are ill or experiencing any symptoms
- Follow our newsletter for evolving information about your health and updates regarding our office. Newsletter signup is at the bottom right of our website: https://www.drcova.
com/ - Stay informed about the virus and what symptoms to monitor
- We will be emailing all forms ahead of time for completion to minimize your time in office.
- Utilize the early check-in process at https://mychart.
ketteringhealth.org/ MyChartPRD/Authentication/ Login?
We will be sending additional emails as pertinent information is available (as well as posting on social media) to continue providing timely information to support our patients and their families.